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THE LOSS OF THE SHIP “ESSEX”
SUNK BY A WHALE

AND

THE ORDEAL OF THE CREW IN OPEN BOATS

THOMAS NICKERSON

LAST OF THE OPEN BOAT SURVIVORS

Editors of Original Manuscript
Helen Winslow Chase and Edouard A. Stackpole

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THE NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
NANTUCKET, MASS.

1984

W.2&

The Nantucket Historical Association

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Edouard A. Stackpole
Chapter

I. First Months at Sea—A Youthful Whaler On Board the Ship Essex.

II. At the Azores and Cape de Verdes—

Thence Across the Atlantic to the Falklands.

III. Rounding Stormy Cape Horn to St. Mary’s and to Talcahuano in Chile.

IV. Provisioning in South American Ports—

With Some Adventures as Well as Trade.

V. From the Coast of Peru to Hunting Terrapin at the Galapagos Islands.

VI. “The Monster . .. Again Struck the Ship a Tremendous Blow
with His Head upon the Larboard Bow!”

VII. The Long Sea Voyage of the Whaleboats of
the Essex Begins on November 23, 1820.

VIII. “There Is Land!”—Arrival at Elizabeth or Henderson Island.

IX. Again the Open Sea—Days of Danger, Despair and Death.

X. “The Joyful Sight of a Sail!”—Taken on Board the Brig Indian of London.

Aftermath by Edouard A. Stackpole

Appendices: From the Narrative of Thomas Nickerson.

Appendix A. The Capture and Rescue of the Whaleship Hero.

Appendix B. Tracking Deserters at Guayaquil.

Appendix C. Letter to Leon Lewis from Thomas Nickerson, Oct. 27, 1876.

Illustrations for the Loss of the Essex

Captain Thomas Nickerson in his seventy-sixth year. 5

The Narrative of Owen Chase, with the first account of the Loss of the Essex,

published in 1821. 17

The lookout at masthead had a wide range of sea to observe. 23

The boats are down “taking” a whale. (From a logbook page.) 33

A whaleman’s chart of Hood Island in the Galapagos Group. 39

“With his head half out of water, he again struck the ship.” 44

The Essex at the time she was struck by the whale, Nov. 20, 1820.

(Sketch by Thomas Nickerson.) 47

The jawbone of a bull sperm whale, measuring eighteen feet, from a whale

estimated to be eighty feet long. Brought back to Nantucket by Capt. William Cash,

and on exhibit at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. 50

The skeletons in the cave on Henderson’s Island. 57

rhe rescue of the three crew members on Henderson’s Island, depicted
in an old woodcut. 60

Chart of the South Pacific showing the track of the whaleboats of the Essex

from Nov. 24, 1820, to Feb. 18 and 23, 1821. 64

The survivors in Mate Chase’s boat. Original drawing from article by

A. B. C. Whipple in Life Magazine , Nov. 10, 1952. Drawing by Michael Ramos. 67

A page from the manuscript of Thomas Nickerson’s narrative, describing

the rescue of the survivors in Mate Chase’s boat. 69

Charles Murphey of the Dauphin , described in rhyme the rescue of

Captain Pollard and his companion. 74

The letter of Captain Aaron Paddack, of the ship Diana. 76

Captain Owen Chase, successful whaling master. 79

FOREWORD

The remarkable recovery of a nearly forgotten manuscript, that was originally written
on Nantucket a century ago, is somewhat of a literary miracle. It is the account of the loss
of the whaleship Essex , of Nantucket, a veteran among whaleships, that was sunk in mid-
Pacific on November 20, 1820, when attacked by a bull sperm whale. The narrative was
written in 1876 by Thomas Nickerson, one of the five men who survived the open boat
voyage which followed. It is a detailed account of the disaster to the ship and of the grim
story of the three whaleboats which left the sinking ship, two of which sailed through
thousands of miles of open sea before the five survivors were rescued—an incredible
maritime adventure in itself. Most importantly it is the faithful recollections of Thomas
Nickerson, last of the survivors, who died in 1883, seven years after he had completed his
narrative.

It was in his declining years that Captain Nickerson was induced to write his story.
In 1876, when the manuscript was completed, it was placed in the hands of a professional
writer, Leon Lewis, who had spent a few weeks on Nantucket that summer previous, and
had talked with the old mariner. Captain Nickerson’s intention was that Lewis was to revise
the story and prepare it for publication. But this was never done, despite the fact that
many years elapsed from the time Lewis received the manuscript until he died in 1920.
Over the years the matter was lost to time—forgotten.

The pages of the manuscript might easily have been destroyed or buried in an old
trunk but for an unusual circumstance. Two discerning people, Mr. and Mrs. James N.
Finch, of Hamden, Connecticut, had come into the possession of the hand-written story,
and all those who value original material are indebted to this couple.

It was only a few years ago that the Nickerson manuscript was found among the pa¬
pers inherited by Mr. Finch from his grandfather, Darius Ogden, a neighbor of Leon
Lewis, in Pen Yan, New York. Before Lewis’ death, he had given the manuscript to Mr.
Ogden, and it had for years remained in his collection of papers. One day, Mrs. Finch
came upon the handwritten account and read it carefully. At first she thought it was a
copy of an old sailor’s story. But the details reminded her of a similar account about the
whaleship Essex which she had read in a book on whaling called The Sea Hunters. She im¬
mediately wrote to the author of that book. As a result of the correspondence which en¬
sued, she sent the manuscript to Nantucket for study and was then informed that the man¬
uscript was the lost narrative of Thomas Nickerson, the last survivor of the open boat voy¬
ages of the whaleboats of the Essex.

As a remarkable sequel, Mrs. Finch also sent a letter written by Nickerson to Lewis
in 1876, in answer to certain questions posed by Lewis concerning the story. The hand¬
writing of this letter and that of the manuscript proved conclusively that the hand of Nic¬
kerson had written both. After reviewing these facts, a decision was made by Mr. and Mrs.
Finch, and a letter from them brought the exciting news that they had decided to present
the Nickerson manuscripts to the Nantucket Historical Association.

The publication of the Nickerson Narrative is important not only to Nantucket and
the story of American whaling, but to the American maritime records as well. The amazing
account of the Essex has continued to fascinate readers. The sinking of this Nantucket
whaleship by the deliberate attack of an enraged sperm whale had no precedent in the
annals of the whale fishery. It created a natural climax for Herman Melville’s great Amer¬
ican classic Moby Dick. Those readers in sea literature intrigued by true stories found it ap¬
pearing in every langauge; a never-failing source of compelling interest.

But the grim story of the whale sinking the ship was no more than a preamble to the
terrifying sequel—the subsequent experiences of the twenty men who sailed off in open

boats, leaving the wrecked whaleship to her last hours’ death throes. It is this story that
has aroused the imagination of readers ever since Owen Chase gave the first detailed ac¬
count in 1821, soon after his return to Nantucket. It is this story that Thomas Nickerson
presents in his narrative. Both men were in the same whaleboat when rescued with their
companion, Benjamin Lawrence; a boat under the command of Owen Chase, the first
mate.

It will be inevitable that the two versions will be compared. One of the facts about
Mate Chase’s story is that it was prepared only a few months after he returned home, and
the publisher, William B. Gilley, was little known. The question of the authorship is best
given by Melville, who wrote in his copy of the Chase Narrative:

There seems no reason to suppose that Owen wrote the Narrative. It
bears obvious tokens of having been written for him, but at the same time,
its whole air plainly evinces that it was carefully and conscientiously written
to Owen’s dictation of the facts. It is almost as good as tho’ Owen wrote
it himself.

Captain Owen Chase continued to be a whaleman, as did the other four survivors of
the Essex disaster, and his career as a successful whaling master brought him the respect
and honor due him. When he died on March 7, 1869, it was stated in his obituary in The
Inquirer and Mirror , the Nantucket newspaper: “It is pleasant for us to look upon so firm
and amiable a character as his has been through so eventful a life.”

Captain Thomas Nickerson, as the last of the survivors of the Essex f s open-boat voy¬
agers, wrote his narrative of the disaster more than half a century after Chase’s book ap¬
peared. He also had enjoyed a busy life at sea until becoming a shipping broker in Brook¬
lyn, N.Y. Upon his retirement to Nantucket, he enjoyed the opportunity of meeting and
reminiscing with his four former shipmates on the Essex who also lived here. Theirs was
a unique fellowship, indeed. The first of the group to die was Captain Charles Ramsdell
in 1866; Captain Owen Chase died in 1869; Captain George Pollard in 1870, and Captain
Benjamin Lawrence in 1879.

Captain Thomas Nickerson was born in Harwich, Cape Cod, in December, 1805.
When only six months old, he came to live in Nantucket with his parents, Thomas B. and
Rebecca Nickerson, who had moved to the island. A year later they died within a month
of each other, and the infant son was taken into the home of his grandfather. Captain
Robert Gibson in Nantucket. On February 7, 1883, Thomas Nickerson died at the age of
80. In his obituary, which appeared in The Inquirer and Mirror , a significant paragraph ap¬
peared which read as follows:

Capt. Nickerson had prepared all the materials for a narrative of his thril¬
ling adventures on that remarkable voyage (the open whaleboat voyage),
and some six years ago, disposed of his manuscripts to Leon Lewis, the
novelist, then visiting our island, who proposed to edit and publish them
in book form. The forthcoming volume was announced in our advertising
columns, but Mr. Lewis abandoned the enterprise, and the book has not
yet seen the light.”

The novelist Leon Lewis—Julius Warren Lewis—was a prolific writer, author of
popular stories, which he also had published under various pen names. But he never used
the Nickerson Narrative as it was originally written, which, under the circumstances, was
providential. The fact that the narrative had been completed was not forgotten, however,
and noted in the booklet The Loss of the Essex , first printed a number of years ago.

The obituary also mentioned the fact that all five of the survivors had returned to the
sea, and . . . “notwithstanding the terrible sufferings through which they had passed ... all
rose to the command of vessels, and lived to a good old age.”

It has been mentioned that, with the manuscript, was a letter written in October, 1876,
to Lewis by Nickerson, and in it a very brief biography of Captain Nickerson’s seafaring
career. In it he mentioned he had continued to serve “as mate on vessels in the whaling
service, and, in the 1830s, as chief mate of many different ships in the merchant service;
then as master of ships in the employ of such merchants as George Sutton, Foster &
Girard, and others.” The concluding sentence of this important document read as follows:

“I have confined myself to facts, and you can handle it (the manuscript) as you think
proper. I will not write you again until I hear from you, or know if you are coming. . .

The youngest person on board the Essex , Nickerson was 15 years old when the whale
struck the ship its mortal blow. In fact, as the ship’s boy, he was at the wheel of the ship
when the tremendous impact of the head of the whale, battering the bow, shook every
timber in her.

In his narrative of the Essex , Thomas Nickerson was writing in a full tide of his re¬
collections—late in life, with his memory reinforced by his reminiscing with his former
shipmates. One fact is certain. In his account he gives the most complete story of the
months of voyaging by the Essex before the sinking. As the facts concerning the passage
of the open boats proceeds there are enough differences with the Chase story to intrigue
the reader, as there are, naturally enough, similarities to Chase’s accounts. As is to be ex¬
pected, Nickerson depended on the Chase narrative. After all is considered, both men
were together in the same whaleboat and were rescued together. In the Chase narrative,
it is stated that Nickerson, the ship’s boy, toward the end of the ordeal, had abandoned
all hope.

Chase wrote:

A fixed look of settled and forsaken despondency came over his face; he
lay for some time silent, sullen and sorrowful—and I felt at once satisfied
that the coldness of death was fast gathering upon him. . ..”

But as Chase noted, “Providence willed it otherwise.” At 7 o’clock that morning a sail
was sighted. “The boy, too, had a sudden an animated start from his despondency, and
stood up to witness the progagle instrument of his salvation.” The sail proved to be the
brig Indian , Captain Crozier, of London, whose lookout had fortunately seen the whaleboat
and the brig changed course to rescue them. It was the 18th of February, 1821, and a
week later the three men in the Mate’s boat—Owen Chase, Benjamin Lawrence, and
Thomas Nickerson—were brought into Valparaiso, Chili. Here they later met Captain
George Pollard and Charles Ramsdell, the only survivors in the whaleboat commanded by
Captain Pollard, rescued by the whaleship Dauphin on February 23, 1820.

* * *

After the three boats left the wrecked Essex , the decision of Captain Pollard to take
a definite course is graphically described by the Nickerson manuscript. One month later
the boats reached Henderson Island, where three men decided to remain, and the boats
continued. The Nickerson story of that terrible journey across the Pacific will capture the
imaginations of all those who appreciate the true stories of the sea.

Owen Chase’s narrative of the events in the two whaleboats, which carried out the
grim story, has been the source for practically all the accounts of this adventure that have
appeared in print since that time. Captain Pollard s brief account of what he recalled, and
Thomas Chappel’s statements of his life with his two shipmates on Henderson Island, are
the only other personal fragmentary reports that exist. One of the three men left on Hen¬
derson, Seth Weeks, returned to his home on Cape Cod. While he recounted his adven¬
tures to his family and friends, he left no written account which there is known. Seth
Weeks was the last of the crew of the Essex, death coming on Sept. 24, 1887.

But there were some extra sheets included with Thomas Nickerson’s narrative of his
momentous Essex experience. It concerns his life soon after his return to Nantucket with
his companions on the ship Eagle, June 15, 1821. Five months later he had again sailed
on a whaleship, the Two Brothers, of Nantucket, under command of Captain George Pol¬
lard, former commander of the Essex. The whaleship’s departure was on November 16,
1821. She never returned, being lost on a coral reef north of the Hawaiian Islands. This
was the crowning blow to Captain Pollard. He never returned to the sea, becoming a night
watchman on Nantucket. The extra sheets of manuscript which Nickerson entrusted to
Leon Lewis gives his account of this disaster, which fortunately ended with the whaleboats
crews being rescued by the ship Martha, of Nantucket, on February 14, 1823.

Thus, we have another original account in manuscript of the loss of a Nantucket
whaleship, and in the hand of Thomas Nickerson, again a survivor of a shipwreck at sea.

As is apparent in his manuscript on the Essex, Nickerson’s narration shows him to have
been a keen observer of the nautical scene. His was a natural gift for conveying the spirit
of the incidents as the story unfolds. The loss of the Two Brothers is the only first-hand
account of the disaster in manuscript form, and will be of interest to many readers when

it appears in print. .... , .

An active man all his life, Thomas Nickerson did not remain idle upon his retirement
to Nantucket. Realizing the demand for accommodations for visitors which marked the
early years of the 1870s, he bought a house on North Street (now Cliff Road), and opened
a boarding house. He was successful from the start and enjoyed the opportunity to talk
with his paying guests. It seems possible that Leon Lewis stayed here during his visit to
Nantucket in 1875.

In a paragraph by a writer in the Boston Traveller , on August 22, 1889, appeared the
following dispatch from Nantucket:

During the last three or four years, a singular fatality seems to have pur¬
sued the landlords and boarding house keepers of this town. Six of them
have been stricken down by death, and it is very remarkable that they were
the most popular and best known of any here.

They were Captain Thomas Nickerson, who kept a boarding house on
North Street, and was the last survivor of the ill-fated whaleship Essex , . . .

As before stated, Thomas Nickerson died on February 7, 1883, in his eightieth year,
and in his obituary it was stated:

Capt. Nickerson, a lad of 17 years, was one of the three left in the chief
mate’s boat, when she was picked up by the brig Indian , of London. . . .

and, as well: . . of the five who were rescued in the boats, who were all Nantucket

men,... it is worthy of remark that, notwithstanding the terrible sufferings through which
they had passed, these Five men all continued to follow the sea, all rose to command of
vessels, and all lived to a good old age.”

ft*

Captain Nickerson married Margaret Drew in Nantucket on August 31, 1828, and she
preceded him in death. They had no children. In his account of Nickerson’s passing, Ar¬
thur Gardner, the knowledgeable editor of the Nantucket Journal , reprinted the notice in
the Inquirer and Mirror , and further commented: “The death of Captain Nickerson ... re¬
vives the memory of the ocean tragedy (The Loss of the Essex), . . . that the dreadful de¬
tails are painfully familiar at the present day.”

In preparing this manuscript for publication, acknowledgment must be given Mrs.
Helen Winslow Chase for her part in its launching. Not only did Mrs. Chase have a major
role in editing the book, but she typed the entire narrative, a tribute not only to her skill
as a typist but also to her deep interest in the book. Through the years of experience as
a teacher, she has participated in many avenues of historical research. She has developed
a method of studying and recording the information contained in the logbooks of the
whaleships from Nantucket and other whaling ports, which provides opportunities for
many students in whaling history to gain more knowledge of the subject. Mrs. Chase has
an M.S. in American History from the University of Wisconsin, and is a graduate of the
Munson Institute of Maritime History, for which credits are given by the University of
Connecticut, and has done extensive post graduate work in maritime history. She recently
spent a year’s sabbatical in the South Pacific. She is presently a member of the Council
of the Nantucket Historical Association and serves on several committees.

The narrative of Captain Thomas Nickerson deserves to stand beside that of Captain
Owen Chase. As a chronicle of the dramatic story of the whaleship Essex and her whaleboat
crews, the Nickerson manuscript becomes more important with the years, especially in view
of its unusual recovery. Now it takes its place with the other true stories of the island’s
history which have given Nantucket such an almost legendary role in America’s maritime
past.

Edouard A. Stackpole

Chapter One

First Months at Sea—A Youthful Whaler
On Board the Ship “Essex.”

O’er the Glad waters of the dark blue Sea,

Our thoughts as boundless, and our Souls as free,

Far as the breeze can bear the billows foam,

Survey our Empire, and behold our home!

The Corsair

The voyage with which I Shall Commence this work was made in the Ship Essex of
Nantucket, Which Ship had been fitted for a whaling voyage by Paul Macy Esq r , and Com¬
mand given to George Pollard who had never Commanded a Ship previous. But [he] had
Sailed as Chief Mate of that Ship on a former voyage and was Consider^ fully Competent
to Command any Ship in the whaling Service.

The Ship had also been consider^ what Seamen term a Luckey Ship, So there was
no obstacle to getting a first rate Crew both of Officers and Seamen. The Ship therefore,
having gone through a thorough repair and pronounced a perfectly Safe and Sea worthy
Ship, was on the whole rather a desirable Ship than otherwise. I had very little difficulty
in Obtaining liberty Of my friends to accompany them on their voyage to the Pacific
Ocean.

And as I had been thus far brought up in Nantucket, that Nursery for Seamen, where
Children, from the time they Can lisp, are taught to look towards Cape Horn for a Sup¬
port and to Idolize the form of a Ship, [I] Could not have been easily turned from my
purpose. And it was perhaps the most pleasing moment Of my life when I at the age of
fourteen years went for the first time on board that Ship.

She was then lying at the Wharf wholly unrigged and looked very much like the pic¬
ture I have Seen of Noah’s Ark and from which One accustomed to the more modern
built Ship would have turned in disgust. Such however was to be my home In all prob¬
ability for the coming three years. And black and ugly as She was I would not have Ex¬
changed her for a palace.

There was a Custom at that time prevailing at Nantucket for all Who Were to make
a voyage in a Ship to assist In fitting the Ship for Sea, without any Compensation Save
the privilige Of going to Sea in the Ship. That practice I am told Still Continued at Nan¬
tucket although all Other whaling ports have abandoned it as unjust and overbearing. I
know not with whom this Custom Originated, but it is Certainly very Convenient for the
Ship Owners and probably Originated with themselves. Thus after bestowing a donation
of three weeks labour, we Succeeded in getting the Ship Rigged and over the Bar, there
to await her lading and that too to be accomplished by Our Own men with the assistance
of Lighters.

Here after Six days more we find Our vessel waiting the arrival of a packet from Bos¬
ton with half dozen negroes to Complete our Crew. She too arrived the next day and our
Compliment Of men being Complete—I will not Say Seamen for I think we had few at
that time that deserved the name—all was made ready for a Start in quick time.

On the 12th Of August, 1819, Our Cap 1 Came on board And gave Orders to weigh
the anchors and Get the Ship under way; an Order that all were overjoyed to hear and
hasten^ to Obey, little thinking that this Stately Ship with many of Its Cheerful Crew
would return to our native land no more for Ever.

Perhaps It will be well to detain the reader a while and State that It Is a Custom to
have Landsmen, Or those who have not been accustom^ to the Sea, to Compose their
Crews in those whaling Ships In preferance to practical Seamen. And I think the former
are far preferable to the Latter as they Can be formed to adhere to the Discipline Of a
whaler with less trouble than the regular Old Salt. The latter are very much Set in their
Ways On shipboard and find It hard to bend their Minds to the rules of a whale Ship.
And as Is Always the Case that the Mates and boatSteerers have Some Considerable Ex¬
perience, it does not Matter much even though there Should be none before the Mast who
Could Claim the title Of an able Seaman. For . . . experience has Since taught me that a
few months Onboard will make even the greenest Capable Of Executing the general Or¬
ders Of the Ship. I Would not urge that they Could be made Seamen In that Short time,
but that with the Direction Of their Officers Can Do all that will be necessary for the per¬
formance Of Such a voyage.

Let us return to the Departure. Our Anchors were Soon hove up and Secured to the
Bows and the hands turned too to make Sail upon the Ship. And it would Certainly have
been very amusing to Seaman to have watched Our motions whilst getting the Ship under
way. In fact all >vas bustle, Confusion and awkwardness, that Is, on part of the Crew. The
Officers were Smart active men, and were no Doubt Something Piqued at having Such a
Display Of awkwardness In full view of their native town. Nor was It Untill we had passed
the Eastern End Of the Island, that Our Top Gallant Sails were Set and all Sails trim^
to the breeze.

Meantime Many Of us who were natives of the Island, were found Gaping and Staring
astern to Catch the last Glimpse Of Our native land. Nor was it untill my Ears received
a Slight pressure from the fingers Of the Chief mate, that I was reminded that a few ropes
remained to be Coiled and the decks to be Swept, a duty which generally devolves upon
Lads of my Class.

And, although but a few hours before I had been So eager to go this voyage, there
Seemed a Sudden gloom to Spread over me as the land receded from our view and Sunk
beneath a Western horizon. Then It was that I, for the first, time realized that I was alone
upon a wide and an unfeeling world, even at that tender age, without one relative or
friend to bestow One Kind word upon me and to Sanctify this to me and Cause me to
feel the full Sacrifice that I had Made.

I was assailed by the hoarse Voice of the Mate Calling to me In Its harshest tone, “You
boy, Tom, bring back your broom here and Sweep Clean. The next time I have to Speak
to you, your hide Shall pay for it, my lad!”

Here then was a Stumper for me. A not very pleasing prospect [was] truly before me,
that Of a long Voyage and a hard Overseer. This to a Boy Of My years who had never
been used to hear Such language or threats before.

As night approached all hands were turned up, and Call d aft upon the quarter Deck,
when the watches Were Selected and Myself taken Into the Larboard or Mate’s Watch.
After this proceeding the Captain Made his appearance upon Deck to lay Down his rules
and frame his discipline for the voyage. This, however, was given without Overbearing dis¬
play or ungentelmanlike language, Simply Stating in Substance that as now we had Com¬
menced a long Voyage togather. Much would depend upon the Crew as regarded their
Comfort or Success. All orders from himself Or Officers were to be Strictly Obeyed. And
any who Should wilfully disobey or Offend Either one of them would be dealt with or
punished even as though the Insult had been offered to himself.

After this harangue had been got over, the men were dismissed and Ordered forward
to their Duty and respective Stations. Our Crew were divided Into two messes, about Two

thirds of the Crew Occupying the Forecastle Including the negroes, and about one third
occupying the Steerage. I belonged in this latter number, and thought Myself fortunate
Indeed to Escape being more closely pen^ up in the forecastle.

We were now [arranged] for Supper, and Indeed It was my first Supper upon the
Ocean. And it Seemed truly a novelty to me. All were Seated In a Circle around our Kid
or tub of Salt Meat, with Each Man his tin Cup of Tea, and holding Inour hands a huge
piece of Salt junk and Cake of hard biscuit. All Seemed to Enjoy their meal as well as
though they had been Seated at Table in a palace groaning under Its weight of Costly Via¬
nds. Indeed, I have Often Known the affairs of a nation as warmly and as ernestly dis¬
cussed as though our whole Country s destiny had depended upon the decision Of their
argument in that Same little Circle.

At Eight O Clock PM all hands were Call** upon Deck and the Larboard Watch Cho¬
sen to take the first watch untill midnight when the Starboard Watch were Sent below and
released from Duty. I will State here, for Information Of those who are not familiar with
Customs at Sea, that all Ships make it a rule to divide their Crews into two watches, viz.:
Larboard or Mate’s watch and Starboard or 2 n( Mate’s Watch. And for the Sake of Chang¬
ing the Watch Every night that each Can have a fair Chance. That is, they who have the
first watch one night the next night may have the Second watch. It had been found neces¬
sary to divide one four hour watch Into two distinct Watches of two hours Each. The
hours have been Chosen between four and Eight PM. They have been Christned Dog
Watches and are always distinguished by that name. But for what reason they have been
Called Dog Watches I am unable to Explain. (Unless it may be Said they have been Cur¬
tailed.)

As I have before Stated, the Larboard watch now took Charge Of the Deck; and, as
all were new hands, the novelty of Standing a watch for the first time at Sea Caused the
time to Slip lightly by. The night proved fine with a Clear and beautiful Sky; and the
hands were lounging about the Decks during the night long after the watches had been
relieved.

At Eight bells In the morning all hands were again turned too to Clear the Decks and
prepare the Ship for Whaling. For, Should Whales be Seen, the boats must be launched
upon the Ocean. And green and useless as the hands were, they would be Call cl upon to
man the boats and pursue them. The men were now made to Know that they had two
hours Each to Spend at the mast head every day during the voyage, looking for whales.

This was not pleasing news to Some Of Our number who, by this time, began to feel
that there was a Certain process to be gone through with before they Could become Sea¬
man, viz. Sea Sickness. Many were rolling and tumbling about the Decks almost ready Or
willing to Die or be Cast into the Sea. To Such this was Certainly undesired news, that
they Should Climb to the top of the mast and Spend two hours looking for whales. Some
Said even Should they Succeed in getting aloft to the mast head, they Could not hold On
for a moment and the Idea of looking Out for whales was altogather absurd and unreason¬
able. One of the lads Said he Should not go, and he hoped the Captain would not Expect
it of him. But a few Soft words from the Officers and Some little Challenging of their
Spirits brought them to their former good Senses; and they resolved to try and do the
best in their Power and finally Succeeded beyond their expectation.

This Day, August the 13th, found us In Clear blue water, with nothing to obstruct
the Sight Save the Small Circle Of the horizon Stretching Itself around our little bark
which almost appears a little world of itself. Here we had the pleasing Sight Of a few Dol¬
phin Swimming around our Ship and often playfully turning upon their Sides, and looking
upwards as thought they would bid us welcome. Their Changable Colours were plainly vis¬
ible as they played about, a few feet beneath the Surface of the deep. I have never

thought, as many have stated, that the Dolphin displays his hues So brilliantly after being
taken from the water as they do whilst Swimming in their own Element. They may indeed
Show more variety of Colours when dying, but a Close observer will find great variety and
elegance in their hues when playing as they often do around the Ship.

It really Seems that Providence had designed me for a Sailor, for I have never been
for a moment In my whole Career the least Sea Sick. And upon this Occasion I Could
readily join with those Onboard, who were not Sick, in laughing at those who were less
fortunate than Ourselves. All who have made a voyage at Sea must Know that for those
who are Sea Sick there is not the least Sympathy Existing In their more fortunate Ship¬
mates; for all know that, however disagreeable it may be, there is no actual danger attend¬
ing It, hence their lack of Sympathy. It is nevertheless most perplexing to the Sufferers.

August the 15 l . Fell In with a Ship Steering like Ourselves to the ESE and bearing
the appearance Of a whaler. This induced our Captain to Steer more towards him and,
as we were the fastest Sailor Of the two, Soon Come up with and Spoke him. She proved
to be the Ship Midas of New Bedford, Captain Spooner, five days from New Bedford
bound to the Coast of Brazil. After passings the Compliments Of the Day and Comparing
Longitudes, the Ships Seperated.

The weather now began to look dark and dreary with heavy Clouds gathering to the
Southwest. The Sea became very rough which Caused the Ship to roll and tumble heavily
and Seemed to threaten a Storm. We however Continued to Carry a press Of Sail through¬
out the night and had no Cause to distrub the hands except for their respective watches.
But on the next day, as the Ship had drawn out into the Gulf Stream, the weather became
very thick with a Steady Rain. The hands had been Call^ to take in the fore and mizen
top Gallant Sails, leaving the Ship with the three top Sails, Courses, Main top Gallant Sail
and Fore top mast Steering Sail Set, when a violent Squall Struck the Ship from the South
East heaving the Ship almost Instantly upon her beam ends. This Caused the utmost Con¬
fusion and Consternation amongst the Crew.

But the Cool and undismayed Countenance of the Captain Soon brought all to their
Sober Senses. When all haulyards and Sheets were let go, but the Ship lay So far upon
her Side that nothing would run down as desired untill the Ship again righted. The Ship
did this immediately when the first gust had past. But the Sails were all aback, with the
yards very near Square, which press c the Ship So far backward before the Sails Could be
taken off that She was very near running under Stern first, which every Seaman must
Know, Is a most dangerous position for a Ship to be Caught In. But by the Skill of our
Captain and Officers, who Exerted themselves to their utmost, all appearance of danger
Soon vanished. The wind then Changed to North West and blew moderatly.

We had by this time had an opportunity of returning to our Common Senses and
View the effects of the Squall which we found to have been to us Most Serious. The first
Gust had taken away o[u]r new main top Gallant Sail and Studding Sail togather with Our
larboard quarter boat, the waist boat and Stern boat togather with all our Whaling ap¬
paratus attached to them. The Cook house togather with Its apparatus had been Carried
away and broken up.

When all was Over, we had Only two boats left wherewith to Obtain Our Cargo, al¬
though we had men Sufficient to have man ( * out three. Nor Can those Voyages be Ob¬
tained by any Other means than with their boats. The first determination Of the Captain
was to return home and get a Supply of Boats Et c . But, after Some little reflection and
a Consultation with his Officers, It was deemed most prudent to Continue On our Course
and trust to fortune and a Kind Providence to make up our loss.

As I have before Stated the wind had Changed to North West which was directly
against us to return. Their Opinion was that It would Remain In that quarter for a long

time and greatly delay the prosecution of our voyage. That at least was their Excuse, but
I presume the fact was that they feared to return lest the men Should have been discour¬
aged and would avail themselves Of the first Opportunity to Escape. After this decision
the Ship’s head was again turned to the Eastward, and all possible Sail Set to Expedite our

passage.

We passed almost daily many vessels bound toward the United States which would fre¬
quently draw forth the Expression from Some of our young Sailors, “Oh, how I wish I
was Onboard with them going home again, for I am heartily Sick of th[e]se whaling Voy¬
ages,” although as yet we had not Seen anything In form Of a whale. But alas, poor fel¬
lows, many of them were never permitted to return to their home or friends again, as will
be Shown hereafter.

All hands were Kept daily at work fitting the Ship and preparing all things which
would be made useful towards the Voyage. And our vessel Steered directly towards the
Azores, or Western Islands, with the hope of falling In with the Spermaciti Whales which
abound in that Sea and are frequently found very near the Shores of those Islands. And
also Compell^ to touch there for a Supply of Vegetables.

we were

Chapter Two

At the Azores and Cape de Verdes—Thence Across
The Atlantic to the Falklands

On the afternoon of September 2, 1819, the men at the masthead gave the joyful Cry
of “Land Ho!” But, the wind falling of^f] before night and leaving it quite Calm, we did
not approach it untill the next day. This Land was the Islands of Corvo and Flores which
are very near each Other, and appearing In the distance like a Cloud with its Sides nearly
perpendicular. Indeed, One not accustomed to Seeing Such Land Could very easily mis¬
take It for a Cloud hanging Over the Horizon. We had very light airs through the night,
which by daylight had brought us plainly In View Of the Flores. But the wind again left
Us. And, finding to all appearance that It might remain Calm throughout the day, the
Captain determind the take two Boats and leave for the Island.

The Cliffs about this Island appear white in the distance; and, as the atmosphere at
this time was very Clear, gave the Land the appearance of being much nearer than it really
was. All the Officers agreed that it was not more than ten or twelve miles distant. The
Crews of the boats having been Selected to go On Shore, all hands were Ordered below
to take breakfast and be ready for further Orders.

The Officers now Suddenly disappeared for their breakfast; and, by the time the Cook
had dealt out our Cup of Coffee to each man and we were Seated to take our Scanty meal,
the hoarse Voice of the mate was again heard at the Steerage gangway Calling us to get
the boats away. This Seemed rather hard for us the prospect of So long a row without
breakfast. But hard as it was, there was no alternative. All too well knew the discipline of
the Ship to Stand a Second Call. Therefore, tin Pots and Pans were Instantly drop 0 *, and
all Sprang upon Deck and hastened to prepare the Boats.

One Barrel of Whale Oil was placed in Each boat, for the purpose of trade with the
Islanders, and a Small quantity of water to quench the burning thirst of the boatmen. And
being thus Equip 0 *, we Started for the Shore. This Custom of trading Off Oil for the veg¬
etable produce of the Island has prevailed for many years, as the Islanders prefer the Oil
to Cash for their articles. Very Often Ships Obtained a Supply Of their produce for a few
Gallons Of Oil which, had they used Spanish Dollars, would have Cost them from Sixty
to one hundred dollars. Indeed It requires Considerable Of a Yankee to trade the Oil Off
to good advantage and make a profitable Speculation for the Ship.

I had been appointed to row at the after oar in the boat in which the Captain em¬
barked which Certainly gave me much pleasure at the time as It would Afford me a run
On Shore in a foreign land. But, Strange as it may seem, I had an Opportunity of re¬
gretting My appointment long before we reached the landing place. After rowing three
hours and had Sunk the hull Of Our Ship entirely beneath the horizon. Still the Shore
of the Island looked as far distant as when first we had left the Ship. For my own part
I was Completely Worn down and exhausted, and the Captain was frequently Compell 0 *
to Indulge me by laying In my Oar and giving me time to renew my Strength. For, it being
a new business to me, I presume tlu.t I worked much harder than any man In the boat.
We Continued on our rowing untill the tall masts and white Sails of the Ship had entirely
disappeared beneath the horizon although the Sky and atmosphere were as Clear as they
Could possibly have been.

We finally Succeeded In getting to the Island and entered the beautiful little harbour
of Santa Cruz in the Island of Flores. Here we found moored here some few Small Crafts,
as the Seamen term them, which were used in passing about amongst those Islands but
were, On the whole, a miserable representation of a vessel.

I had now a little time given me to look about the Town, and I think I employed
It tolerably well. For being quite worn out with having been So long Cooped up on board
a Ship, it gave me the greatest Satisfaction to rove about the town and Stretch my limbs.
The inhabitants, too, amused me So much. There Seemed Such A Wildness about them
In their manners and In their dress, that to one like myself, wholly unaccustomed to Any¬
thing foreign, that all Seemed to give a double Charm. In their language there Seemed
an unnatural Sharp high pitched and Sudden Variations in their voices as they Conversed
amongst themselves, that gave a wildness to the whole Scene not easily to be forgotten by
any who visit them.

The Dress of the men were very much like those Of Our Own Country as regards
pattern, but mostly of the Coarsest Kind of Cloth. The Ladies too were dressed In the
Coarsest of Cloth, with the Skirts attached from the waist and generally of different Col¬
ours. But I am Inclined to think those which I had an Opportunity Of Seeing during a
Stay of but a few hours must have been of the Common Order.

I will give you an Idea of the manner in which trade is Carried on at those Islands
by Whaling Ships that touch here fore trade or Supplies. On first landing the Captain,
of Course, will make a formal report to the Commandant of the Port through the Amer¬
ican Consul, which Is a mere matter of form, as permission Is Immidiately Obtaind to
open a trade with the Inhabitants for vegetation. Orders are then Sent to the Officer In
Charge of the boat to make a Commencment. The barrells of Oil are then taken from
the boat upon the beach and tap^ ready for use.

There is generally One Of the Boatsteerers Chosen to act as Clerk of the Day. Here
Seated, with his quart pot and pint Cup, it Is his business to deal Out to those who may
favour him with their trade. This business requires a Considerable foreknowledge Of Pedl-
ing for many Come with a Small bowl of Potatoes, And from that quantity up to a Barrel,
brought by various persons. And then Will Come perhaps a few onions or Some half
Dozen Fowls. And Should the Clerk be too liberal, he will pay dear for his whistle, and
his Oil Cask will be Empty before his Boat Is Laden with his trade.

It is amusing to See how eager the Females are for the trade. And those who have
nothing to Offer In Exchange are Continually Sitting around with Cups to Catch the drops
of Oil that may Chance to fall from the tap. And very often I have Seen them Quarreling
to See who Should have the first opportunity to Catch the drippings, untill the Clerk, worn
out with their Confusion, would drive them all away togather. In this way were we em¬
ployed during the day. At about four OClock, finding our boats well laden with Potatoes,
Onions and Poultry and our Oil not entirely Sold out, what remaind was dealt out to the
poor old Women of which there were many around us asking alms.

We had been Surprised to find our Capt willing to await untill So late an hour on
Shore; for we had expected Our return to the Ship would have been attended with
another long pull. But I presume the Captain was aware that the Ship had Catched a light
breeze and made her way very near In towards the Island. But as he was a man of few
words, he made no mention of it to anyone. We, who had been drifting about the town,
were Still under the Impression that the day had been Calm and of Course believed the
Ship to be far distant. And to this, Our men had been Kept all day without their Dinner
and of Course had no desire to Encounter Such an Other Regatta as In the morning. We
presume our Captain did not go all Day without food himself; but, as he Could not feel
the wants of others, we presume he did not heed them.

But after all I have no doubt but this little neglect of his has been of Some Service
to many of us and Kept us from falling Into the Same Error Ourselves. For It has So hap-
pen d many times Since, when I have had Command myself, that I have had many excur¬
sions with my boat and men, but I Certainly have never forgotten to provide them with

i- - - :

means of getting Something to Sustain themselves.

At about Sunset we took our leave of the little harbour of Santa Cruz; and, on passing
around the point Of rocks which form the entrance of the harbour, Our joy was un¬
bounded at Seeing the Ship very near us sails laying aback, to receive us Onboard. We
soon reached the Ship and, after taking our vegetation onboard, hoisted up Our boats.
Spreading all Sails to the breeze, which was blowing lightly from the northward, we again
Shaped our Course to pursue the Voyage and bid adieu to the Steep Cliffs of Flores which
Soon Sunk beneath the horizon.

Perhaps Our Countrymen generally are not aware that these Islands produce the
Finest vegetables In the world. The Onions and Potatoes are Certainly the finest I have
ever Seen both as regards their Flavour and Size. Their Onions will frequently measure
four to Six inches in diameter. The Potatoes also grow to an enormous Size and yet retain
all their natural Sweetness. There is nothing of that rank or bitter taste So often attending
an overgrown vegetable.

Having now taken our departure from the land, our watches were again Set, and the
general routine Of Ship’s Duty Carried on Daily. And our look out regularly Kept at the
mast head, yet we Saw nothing to Indicate whales, or to break In upon the dull monotony
Of a Sea Voyage. Tis true we had Occasionally a Cry from the mast head of “Sail ho,’’
which proved to be Some passing Vision Of a Vessel In the distance and rarely Came near
enough to be Seen by those who were upon our Ship’s Deck.

Nothing further transpired to break in upon the daily duties of the Ship Save now
and then a passing Squall. The Top Gallant Studding Sails and perhaps the Top Gallant
Sails would Call the new Ship boys to Stow them away for a few moments, when they were
again Set after the gust would Subside. We were now making very good progress toward
the Cape de Verde Islands and in Latitude 29 De S rees North we took the North East trade
wind. This hastened our progress So much that, on the fourteenth day after leaving the
Western Isles, we Saw the Bonavista Island.

... On the following day [we] Saw the Isle of Mayo at which we designed to Stop to
obtain a Supply of Hogs, which may be had here In abundance, at a trifling Cost. On ap¬
proaching the Shores of this Island, I observed the Captain and Mates to be more Cheerful
than usual, alternately passing the Spy Glass about from one to the other, looking anx¬
iously towards the beach near to which we were approaching. The Cause of their Glee did
not remain long a Secret from our Seamen, for we Could Soon discover, without the aid
of a Glass, that a large Ship lay piled up, as the Seamen term it, upon the Beach.

But the Cause of their joy was that they had made her out to be a Whaler; and the
prospect Seemed to be that from her we Should be able to make up our Loss of Boats.
I would not wish that the reader Should think our Captain was rejoicing to find a fellow
being In Distress, or that So noble a Ship had become a wreck. But through her Loss
Gleamed a hope of Obtaining boats to replace those lost at the beginning of our voyage.

After running down near the beach we backed our Sails with the view of going On¬
shore to the wreck; but a boat Shoved off from the beach and Came to us. They reported
the wreck to have been the Ship Archimedes of New York bound on a Whaling Voyage to
the Pacific Ocean. And whilst Steering along this Shore she had accidentally Struck upon
a Sunken Rock, and Caused the Ship to leak So badly they were Compcll ( to run the Ship
upon the beach to Save the Cargo. ~

Our acting Consul Came onboard In this boat, Ferdinand Gardner " S( J* of Hudson,
N.Y., who had purchased the wreck and her Cargo. He Could not Spare us but One of
the Ships boats for they were Of the utmost Service to himself in forwarding his business
around the Island. But in our Situation even One boat was a goodly Prize; and we were
under many Obligations to him for thus far Supplying Our Need.

After taking our new boat onboard, we again Set Sail for the harbour. This newly
purchased boat proved to be the very one that So miraculously Conveyed a part Of Our
Ship’s Company, togather with myself, across the great Pacific Ocean and Saved Some Of
us at least from a waterey grave. These Boats are built of very light thin Cedar boards
not half an Inch In thickness. They are about twenty feet In length and five feet wide.
But, they are very buoyant and lively at Sea hence their Safety.

A Strong breeze Soon brought us down in Sight Of the harbour. And the large Pyrim-
idal hills looked very Curious to us who were Strangers, as they were perfectly white and
all about one height. But on a near approach we Could plainly discover that they were
Solid hills Of Salt, which are brought In by the gegroes from the Surrounding Salt ponds,
ready for Shipment. This furnishes Considerable trade with the Island and, I belived, Is
the Only article Of Export from the Island.

We found laying at anchor In this harbour Several American Vessels taking Onboard
Salt for the United States and also the Whaling Ship Atlantic of Nantucket, Captain Bar-
zillai Coffin. This Ship had been very Successful and had Obtain , in making his passage
thus far, more than 300 barrells of Oil and had Come here to Ship it to the United States.
And we found them very busy discharging and Shipping it Onboard an American Brig.

We Anchored Our Ship and lay One and a half days during which time we had
traded, not Oil as before, but white Beans, which are in great demand at those Islands.
We here traded away about one and half barrel of Beans for about thirty Hogs, when we
again Weighed Anchor and took Our leave of this barren Spot of Earth. The hogs that
are taken from those Islands are almost Skeletons and when walking the bones Seem to
almost pierce through the Skin.

The manner of taking off Salt at this Island to load the Ships Is very tedious. Owing
to the Continual breaking In of the Sea on the Shores no wharves or quays Can be made
to Stand, and they are Compels to lay an anchor off in the Harbour with a large rope
or Stay attached to the bow. This rope is then taken to the top of a rock which I Should
judge may be about forty feet above the level of the Sea. The Ship’s longBoat, or perhaps
a miserable Lighter, may be Obtain^, Is hauled at the End Of the Stay, and by means of
Small hauling lines the Salt is Conveyed onboard In bags. When the boat is laden, it is
taken to the Ship. This process must necessarily Cause a great delay Of time as well as
unusual trouble.

In attempting to land upon the beach whilst at this Island (and in the best part ol
the harbour), Our boat was Instantly Capsized or overset in the Surf, which breaks almost
Incessantly, and thrown upon the beach bottom upwards. The lads did not much mind
this for none were hurt, but they were greatly amused to See the Captain get So fine a
Ducking. I Know of nothing that a Sailor would not Encounter willingly where life would
not be too greatly Endanger** If he Can but turn the laugh upon his Captain or Officers.

After leaving this Island we Steered away to the South and made very good progress
untill we reached the Fourteenth degree Of Latitude north Of the Equator. Here we
found our progress very much retarded in Consequence of the long and frequent Calms
with which we met. Frequent and hard Rains . . . fell In torrents around us, falling So fast
that Our Scuppers Could not free The Decks from the Immence quantities Of water. And
it would run over the plank Shears into the Sea. Our new Sails actually became mildewed
for want Of An Opportunity to dry them.

When In the Latitude of Two Degrees North we fell In with and Spoke the Ship At¬
lantic which we have before Spoken of at the lie of Mayo. We Kept along In Company
with them for Several days as we were both Steering In one direction. I well remember
hearing the Mate Of that Ship Say, upon One Occasion, that although he had passed those
Latitudes thirty different times, he had never been So long delayed In getting to the

Equator In Consequence Of Such a Succession of Calms. We however Succeeded eventu¬
ally In Crossing the Equator having the wind to Settle lightly in the South-East. This
Caused us to Keep Close hauled by the wind untill past the Latitude of Cape M Augustine.

As we anticipated, we had Crossed the Equator too far to the Westward, for we had
no means Of Ascertaining Our true position as Our Ship was Sailed by what Nautical Men
term “Dead Reckoning.” The Latter I think a very appropriate Name and In this Instance
not misapplied. On a Subsequently voyage with this Same Capt Pollard, he had made him¬
self acquainted with the manner of Working, and by practising Lunar Observations Con¬
sequently made better passages and turned his Corners much Shorter than On Our former
voyage. But let us return again.

After having passed Cape S l Augustine we Steered away to the Southwest In Order
to pass between the Falkland Islands and Patagonia. And On this Route Saw nothing
worthy Of note untill we were In Latitued 30:00® e S South. Here we fell In with a Shoal
of Spermaciti Whales Which were the first we had Seen Since we had left home. Here was
the prospect of a Chance to Display Our Skill, and for the uninnitiated to have Some little
practice.

The Ship was drawn up In a Suitable position for Our purpose, and put under Suit¬
able Canvass for the Convenience Of the Ship Keepers which were only three in number.
When Orders were given to lower away the boats, each man had been anxiously watching
at his Post for this Order. And now that it was given, the word had Scarcely passed the
lips Of Our Captain before the Boats were Set Safely Into the water, the tackles unhooked,
and Each man Set down to his Oar In an Instant.

Now Came the trial Of Skill and Superiority In rowing. And, as we had about One
mile to pull before we Came up with the whales, we had an Opportunity to test the
Capacities of Each boat and their Crews In point Of Speed and Power. This trial more
than any other during Our voyage was the Subject of much debate and Excitement among
our Crews; for neither was willing to yield the palm to the Other.

But the Swimming qualities of the Mates Crew, of which I was One, were Soon Called
In requisition. For, as we were In the very Act of harpooning a whale, Our boat was Sto-
ven by a whale Coming up under the boat, which we had not before Seen. And this Op¬
eration was So Suddenly peformed that the first warning we had, was a Cold bath for Each
man. But I presume the monster was as much frightened as Ourselves, for he disappeared
almost Instantly after a Slight flourish of his huge tail.

The Other Boats were very near to us at the time and hastened to the rescue. After
taking us all out of the water, they proceeded to pick up the broken planks which were
floating around in Every Direction. The whales, too, had taken the hint and were making
the best of their way to Escape us by going directly to the windward (a direction which
all Species of whales Seem to take when pursued). So we had to return to Our Ship In
Some measure Disheartened by the loss Of an Other boat, which again Seemed to threaten
the destruction Of Our Voyage.

But necessity Is the mother Of Invention. Our Officers, acting up to this, Set them¬
selves to work repairing the Broken Boat; and the project was Successful. After the Stoven
boat was taken upon Deck we found one Side remain ( Entire, although the Keel had been
broken in two places. The first process was to Splice the Keel. This was done by Intro¬
ducing a middle Piece and grooving the Ends togather. This done, the half Boat was
turned upright and the Keel nailed firmly to the Deck. They then proceeded to place tim¬
bers along Corresponding with the Side of the whole boat. After this was done the boat
was replanked and nailed and Soon again became a perfect model.

Very Soon after this we Succeeded In taking a large whale without more trouble. And
as this was our first greasey work, I will make some mention Of It. It may be of Service

ICC

'<1

nr.

£j **4

The Custom House at Nantucket, from which the whaleship Essex was cleared when she
sailed on August 12, 1819.

to Some of Our young men who may be about to begin the whaling business. It may be
the means Of Saving to them hundreds Of Dollars at the End of those long voyages. For,
Should they fall Short of Clothing, they must go to the Slop Chest for a Supply. Here
they will have a large profit to pay to the Owners of the goods. Many times they are
Charged one hundred pr Cent on the first Cost.

The business being new to us, we did not much like to have Ourselves So filthy and
Greasey. And, as often as Our watches Changed, We threw Of[f] Our Old Clothes and
took new Ones from Our Chests. By the time the Oil Of Our first whale was tryed out,
and run Into Casks, nearly all our Clothes was Spoiled and became unfit for use and fi¬
nally thrown upon the tender mercies Of a Slop Chest to Supply Our wants during the
remainder Of our voyage. And, had we not have lost Our Ship, there Is reason to believe
that at the End of the voyage our Slop Chest would have made a draft upon us to the
amount Of Seven Eights Of Our Earnings. This Should not have been.

Every man engaged In whaling Should Select for himself On his Outward passage two
Suits of Clothing for Cold weather whilst passing Cape Horn. He will then find himself
Comfortable whilst In that Cold Climate. And after passing Into a more moderate
Climeate, they Should be Closely Examined and put In good Order and placed in the bot¬
tom Of his Chest there to remain untill the Homeward Passage. [He should] not use them
upon any Occasion until! he finds himself again In a Cold region. By this means he Can
Secure to himself health and vigour, and not be drawn up with rheumatic pains for want
of a little timely precaution.

This thin Clothing Should be divided Into Suits bearing a proportion to each year’s
requisition. If they will do this, I think we Shall not hear So much of Cheating amongst
Ship Owners or Outfitters. For I don’t believe, In all my knowledge Of Ship Owners, that
a Single Case has Occurred wherein the Ship Owner has knowingly Cheated his men. In
nine Cases Out of ten, where this Complaint has been made. It Can be traced to want
of Care on part Of the Seamen.

I admit they are many times duped and robb d by those around them when they Come
on Shore. Those land Sharks Can Stuff them and make them believe they are their friends
and all else are their Enemies. The name also of Cruelty and hard usage onboard those
Ships has Spread widely abroad. This I believe to be greatly exagerated and misplaced.

I must Say, In One way, I think the Ship Owners are Somewhat to blame. Perhaps
In many Instances they are unconcious of it themselves. I will State my reason for thinking
So and trust I may be Excused for my presumption. In the first Instance they Endeavour
In Obtaining a Crew for their Ship to get them for as Small a lay or proportion Of the
voyage as possible, which Often times with Ordinary Success will Scarcely pay for their
Outfits. By this means no doubt many a good Ship has had their voyages ruined. And the
Owners themselves become the Sufferers for want Of a little liberality on their Part at th[e]
beginning.

It is well Known that most of Our Young Men from the Country Come down to the
Sea Coast under great anticipations and Considerable Excitement, but with but little regard
to the result Of what their profits may be. They Enter Onboard those Ship[s] for a Whal¬
ing Voyage, and Once at Sea they find time to reflect upon what the proceeds Of the Voy¬
age will probably be. [These] at best, with the usual lays, Can be but very little and Of¬
tentimes nothing at all after deducting their Outfits. They therefore make up their minds
to Cut Stick In the first Port to which they may Chance to arrive.

They wish to have Some Excuse for desertion. They do not wish their friends to know
they have made Such a thoughtless contract. They therefore tell all with whom they meet
that they left In Consequence of hard usage Onboard their Ship. Let any one who may
think differently upon this Subject ascertain the lays Of each man Onboard Some One of

these Ships, which may arrive, and See what proportion Is paid to her Seamen.

Again the Charge of tyranny Onboard those Ships Comes from another Class; and,
which Is too Often the case, many young men who are So Wild, Insolent and dissipated
that their parents Cannot keep them at home and Send them Onboard a Whale Ship to
reform them. Here then we See a task for the Captain and Officers to perform. Here Is
a young man who perhaps has been rear with the most tender Care, and has Scarcely
Ever received a word In anger or a frown from the brow Of his parents In opposition
to his general Conduct.

But he has been Subject to midnight revelry and perhaps almost every Other kind of
Vice. Here we find him Suddenly transferred from his debauchery to the discipline Of
a Ship, which in its mildest form is tyranny to him. Here I think It Is but natural for him
to think that he will receive every Check upon his Conduct as an Infringment upon his
liberty, and proclaim any one a tyrant who has dared to thwart him in his wild Carreer.

From Such as this the Cry often goes forth that the Ship Is worse than State prison,
and her Captain and Officers worse than negro drivers. In many Instances Of this kind
I have known the Parents of Such Youths to Enter Suit against the Captain and his Of¬
ficers; and In many Instances too have recover" heavey damages, when they Could not
have kept the boy at home for their multiplicity of Evil actions. To Parents I would Say,
who may Chance to have Such a lad In their family, keep them at home. A long Voyage
Onboard a whaler will rarely benefit them, If Ever, and will be of the utmost disadvantage
to the Ship.

On the Contrary, Should this meet the Eye Of any Young Man of Steadey and Correct
habits, Who may wish to Enjoy a Change of Climate and have Some Knowledge Of Sea
Life, let him make a voyage In a whaler around Into the Pacific. He will find In It al¬
though long having many pleasant Scenes worthy a place In his memory In After Years.
And he will throw off whatever of prejudice he may have entertain d previously. He will
find In It many pleasing Scenes, and Spend a very agreeable three years. He will meet
with many Kind and Intelligent Captains and Officers who will Instruct him In all he may
wish to Acquire.

Chapter Three

Rounding Stormy Cape Horn to St. Mary’s
and Talcahuano in Chili

But let us return again to the Essex. Nothing more broke In upon the dull Monotony
Of a long passage at Sea untill near the Falkland Islands which lies In the Lattitude of
51:00 De 8 South and Longitude of 60:00 De g West. Here, One very dark night, whilst we
were Reefing Our topSails, we were Suddenly Startled by a Sharp Shrill Sound Close
alongside Our Ship. We at first thought it the Cry from One of Our Men who had fallen
Overboard and were about to heave Our Ship too, when a Second Shriek followed which
Soon undeceived us. We found it had been a Penguin that had So Seriously alarmed us,
and it Certainly very nearly resembled the human Voice In Its Shrieks.

The next day we had a perfect Calm. Not a breeze ruffled the bosom of the Ocean
during the day. This gave us a fine Opportunity Of viewing the different Species Of Sea
Fowl which abound in those Seas. Seals were also playing around Our Ship In great num¬
bers, plunging and Swimming as though they desired Our Attention. We had also a fine
Opportunity of Viewing the different Kinds of Penguins with which those Seas Abound.

The next day we Caught a fine breeze of wind and Steered off to the Southward In
Order to pass Cape Horn.

I Will here relate a laughable little Circumstance which took place during this Passage
which Ever after Served to Amuse us whilst we were together. On going below One day
to Dine, our men found In their Dinner Kid or tub So very Small an allowance of Meat,
for that number of men, that they held a hasty Meeting And resolved that none Should
touch any Of It. That when the Captain Came upon Deck, a man Should act as Spokesman
and take the Kid aft upon the quarter Deck. The men took up their Stations upon the
Windward Side Of the Forecastle ready to act In Concert when the Chosen One Shoul¬
dered the Kid and walked aft towards the Cabin gangway.

I had been Set work by the Mate before Dinner to tar the netting Of the Main Staysail,
which not being finished gave me an Opportunity Of being Out Of the Squabble and Suf¬
ficiently Elevated Above Deck to Observe all that might be going on. I had hoped as I
had taken no part In the Affair that I Shouldnot be Seen or Calld upon. By the time the
Man had Set his beef Kid down upon the Quarter Deck, all Eyes being turned aft, the
Captain made his appearance upon Deck. And On looking Into the Kid before him, I
Could See him Change Colour from white to Red, from Red to blue, and finally to almost
black. By this time it was plain to Discover that he felt his dignity Intruded upon. Then
turning forward, he (’ailed Out to the Men in a voice Of thunder, Who brought this Kid
aft? Come here, you D md Scoundrels, and tell me!”

Here all hands walked Aft, each trying to hide himself behind the Other. The Captain,
Observing this Cowardly Spirit amongst them, became himself brave as Caesar and Com¬
menced walking fore and aft the Quarter Deck In Double quick time, turning over his
quid of tobacco and Spitting freely unon Deck, frequently muttering To himself, “You’l
throw your Kid In my face, you D md Scoundrels, will you?”

And at length Coming to a full Stop upon the forward part of the Quarter Deck,
threw off his jacket and Hat and Stamped upon It; then Commenced his harangue:

“You Scoundrels!

Have Not I given you all the Ship Could afford?

Have not I treated you like men?

Have not you had plenty to Eat and Drink?

What in hell do you want more?

Do you wish me to Coax you to Eat?

Or Shall I Chew your food for you?”

To all this the Men made no reply. They were So Surprised they dare not Speak. Nor
was One Complaint urged by them during the whole time of his Violence.

Here upon looking up, the Captain, seeing me in my perching place, (.ailed out.
“Come Down here, you Young Rascal. I’ll Kill the whole bunch of you togather & then
‘Bang up North-West and go homeT’t

But, as I Came Crawling down to be Killed with my Shipmates, I was Overjoyed to
hear him Order all hands away forward to their Duty, and all the Satislaction given them

W3SI

if I hear any more from you about Provisions, I’ll tie the whole Of you up togather
and whip It Out of you.” He then went muttering to himself, but loud enough to be
heared all Over the Decks, what we afterwards termed his Solilquay:

“Thirty Hogs In the Isle of May

Duff Every Other Day* *

Butter and Cheese as much as you Could Sway

And now you want more Beef D m you/

I would not Impress upon the mind of the Reader that Pollard was a hard master.
He was generally very Kind where he could be So. But his Supply of Provisions for this
voyage were very Small; and In this he was touched on a tender point. The above Show
Of Violence was Only one of his moods and passed Off with the Setting Sun. The next
morning found him as Kind as before, but Ever after the hands were Satisfied to Eat what
they found before them, without grumbling.

A few more days brought us near to the Coast of Patagonia. And as the wind hau e
more to the Eastward there Seemed a prospect Of Soon passing Cape Horn. At 8 AM on
the 25 No v the Cry of “Land ho,” was heard from the mast head, and we Could Soon
See from the Deck what we readily Call d Land.... The Captain without hesitation pro-
nounced it to be Staten Island, Or more Commonly Call Staten Land. This appeared to
Show So distinctly that the high Square Bluffs were easily made Out. We Steered In to¬
wards the land untill we were Sufficiently near, then bore up, and ran down along the
Eastern Shore to the South.

The Air was Something hazey but not thick. . .. We Continued to Sail along unti
noon when all at once, whilst looking towards It, the Island disappeared. The haze had
Cleared away, and what we had been Steering for all Day, mistaking It for Land, had been
but a Fogg bank. And the Sun had driven it quite away. I have many times Since seen
fogg banks In the distance which bore Something of the appearance of Land, but have
never Seen any thing wherby the mariner Could have been So Easily deceived As On that
Occasion.

We were Sailing with All Our light Sails Spread when at 5 PM the Sky began to thic¬
ken In the South West. And it was but a few Minutes before the whole black mass of
Clouds were upon us. It looked as If the Whole Chain of the Andes Mountains were about
to burst upon us, and bury us beneath its dark and frowning Ridges. All hands was Call
Instantly upon Deck.

But So rapid was Its progress that we had Only time to take In the top gallant Sails
without furling them, and let our Top Sail haulyards run Instantly, when the squall Struck
the Ship almost with the force of a Cannon Ball. The Ship Could Scarcely Stand up under

tThis was a favourite expression of his of which 1 never Knew the meaning.

*A Sailors name for Pudding.

Even the little Canvas She then had upon her and Careened nearly upon her beam Ends.
A little quick work On part Of the Officers and men Soon reduced the Ship’s Sails to a
Close reefed Main top Sail and Storm Staysails. The Sea Soon got to a mountainous height,
but the Ship rode Over them as buoyantly as a Sea Gull without taking Onboard One
bucket of water.

This Gale Continued for ten days during which time the Ship was Compell d to lay
driving about almost at the mercy Of the waves whilst It lasted. Here we Continued driving
about with adverse winds; sometimes Catching a few hours of Moderate weather when we
Could Show a little more Sail; and then again, driven to Our Close Reefs.

We continued this way for the Space of thirty days before we were far enough to the
Westward [to] Pass Clearly around the Cape. We did not Experience Serious Gales So as
to endanger Our Ship; but, having blown So long from WSW, Kept up a high rolling Swell
which made time pass rather uncomfortable with us and Served to delay us very much.

The thermometer was never So low as the freezing point, but the weather was gen¬
erally bleak and the winds piercing. The daylight was rarely hid from Our View, and the
finest Print Could at all times, when the Weather was Clear, be read with Ease upon Deck
During the Night. Ships in passing this Cape, Cannot haul to the northward untill they
have sailed Considerably to westward of the Land. Otherwise, they would be In danger
of being driven On Shore by the Violent and long Continued Gales which prevail from
the westward.

As we progressed pretty rapidly to the northward, the Climate became mild and the
weather pleasant. On the 2"^ day of January 1820, We Saw the tops of the Lofty Cor-
dillier mountains. In the Lattitude of 37.00 South^ ^nd on t ^ e mo rning Of the 3 ,
Saw the Island of S ta Maria, (St. Mary’s). We fell In a little South Of the Island as we
wished to look Into the Bay. The wind along this Shore prevails from the South the great¬
est part Of the year. Therefore, Ships bound to any Port on the Coast of Chili will find
It to their advantage to make the Land a few miles to Southward Of their Port.

After having passed the Island, we Stood Into the bay of Auroco as we Observed Ships
laying there, And from which we hoped to Obtain the news, if any. We found Several
Ships here Catching Right whales which frequent those Bays at that Season Of the year.
Those Ships which we found at anchor here were the Francis , Paragon , and Chili of Nan¬
tucket; the Brig Ospray of New Bedford; and the Countess of Morley of London. They gave
us a very unfavourable account of the Prospects Of whaling upon this Coast, as they had
all been unfortunate. After delivering what Letters we had for them, we again Stood Out
to Sea. Daylight the following morning found us far off at Sea with nothing but the tops
Of the Mountains In View. 1

We Cruised about upon the Coast of Chili a few months and Obtained about one
hundred and fifty barrels of Oil. When, finding Some threats Of the Scurvy among our
Crew and our Stock of firewood getting Small, we resolved to make for the Island Mas-
safuero for a Supply. This island lies In the Lattitude Of 33:00 South and Is uninhabited.
It has been much frequented by Sealing Crews for many years past. But the Seals having
now become Scarce, either having been all Killed, or forsaken the Island, it has been aban¬
doned. It is about twenty-five miles In Circumferance. It has a bold and rockey Shore, and
the Anchorage about no part of the Island Exceeds half a Mile from Shore. I have Seen
It In a very Clear day from a Ships Deck 70 Miles by a meridian Observation.

We Saw many Goats upon the Island, but they were so Wild that we Could not get
near them. There are many fine fish Caught near the Surrounding rocks. We filled two

'See Appendix A.

boats with them In a Short time. They were not Easily Cured as the Fisherman term It.
They will not receive Salt Sufficiently quick to Save them.

We Obtained Several boat Loads Of wood In Course Of the Day which we got by
hauling It from the Shore to the boats by means Of long lines, there being too much Sea
for a boat to land upon the beach. We picked up Our wood along the Shores which had
fallen from the Mountains and dried apparently for many years In the Sun. Much better
Could have been Cut upon the hills, but we had not time as we wished to remain no longer
than One Day upon the Island. This Island has been much Injured by Volcanoes and In
most places wholly deprived Of Its Soil. But, wherever the Soil remains Seems thickly Co¬
vered with wood and brush.

Our Men Whilst Onshore found In a Cave or fissure Of a rock, a roughly made Box.
Impell^ by Curiosity, they hauled it Out upon the rocks. They found It to Contain the
Skeleton Of a Human being. There was no lid upon the Box, but they found laying upon
the breast a very large Stone which had broken In the breast bone and pressed it to the
bottom of the Coffin. This was undoubtedly the Skeleton Of Some One Of a Sealing or
fishing party who had Died at this Island, but there appears Some little Mystery as regards
the Stone found upon the Breast.

All the wild birds that we Saw here were a few hawks and Sparrows with an abun¬
dance] Of the Mother Carys Chickens or Petrel Surrounding the Shores. Streams Of fresh
water run down the Sides Of the Mountains upon the Sea Shores.

After Leaving this Island, we made the best Of Our Way towards the Bay Of Con¬
cepcion and town of Talcahuano to Obtain a Supply of Vegetables and recruit Our Men
as we had now been a long time at Sea. A few days brought us again In Sight Of the
lofty Cordilliears Mountains. And on the Evening Of that Day we made the Pass of Bio
Bio or Dugs of Concepcion, those two hills which Stand Connected take their name from
the resemblance which they bear to a Lady’s breast. These hills Cannot be easily mistaken,
and are an excellent guide In entering the Harbour Of Talcahuano. We Enter d this Spa¬
cious Bay and Soon gained the Common Anchorage In front Of the Town.

It had now been five months Since the Anchor had been down In any harbour, and
Our Men were Overjoyed at looking around and finding that we were Land Locked, or
Surrounded by Land. There now Seemed a Prospect of having a run Onshore. And we
were promised by the Mate to have plenty Of Liberty on shore If the men would hasten
their work Of Painting Ship and filling the water Casks—a Promise which he faithfully
Kept.

On the morning Of a beautiful Day after having finished Our work, Order Came for¬
ward from the Quarter Deck, for the Larboard Watch to prepare themselves for the Day’s
Liberty. And with It Came a desire from the Captain that any who wished to have a little
money would Come aft upon the Quarter Deck. The messenger had Scarcely gone Ere
there was a general Rush of the Larboard watch aft for fear that the Captain would
Change his mind before they got the money.

Seated upon the Cabin gangway we found Our Captain tossing Over and Over in his
hands Some half Dozen Spanish Dollars which he Seemed to wish to make as much display
Of as possible. Now Came the first Charge which we were to recieve preveous to landing
On a foreign Shore. The harangue Commenced On part Of the Captain:

“Well, Men, what want you here[?]”

“Why, Sir, the Steward told us you had Sent for us to give us money.’’

“Well, how much do you want[?]”

“We dont Care, Sir. We will take all you may Choose to give us.’’

“Well then, you Shall have one Dollar Each. But remember, I Shall Charge you fifty
pr Cent on Every dollar you take So make a good use Of it. And mind you, all Come

Onboard Sober when the Sun Sets, Or you have no more Liberty this voyage. So go for¬
ward and prepare. The boat will be at the beach waiting for you at Sun Set.”

The Captain had already trespass 0 * upon Our time by detaining us So long, and we
flew to make all despatch possible. Many Of Our men now Saw the need Of Our thin
Clothing So foolishly wasted In the first of Our Voyage. And they found It very difficult
to dress themselves with Clothes Suitable for their first visit. But after Some planning and
Contriving, a thing always foremost In a Sailors mind, with borrowing, Lending, brushing
and Scraping we were Soon in readiness for a Start.

And thus prepared, we Seated Ourselves In the Stern Of the Boat to get Clear Of
rowing ourselves on Shore. For Sailors are very much Opposed to work Of any Kind when
rigged In a Shore Suit. We had two hands lent from the Other watch to row us on Shore.

On Our landing we were met by Several “renegadoes” from the town who had de¬
serted from different Ships which had touched here for Supplies. They pretended to feel
the greatest Sympathy or Interest for us, but the truth was that they wished to Share Our
money whilst It lasted. Their first Step was to take us all to the Dance house or Fandango.
There we found a few young women Seated Around the hall upon wooden Stools, and
playing Off Some Spanish Airs upon their Guitars to Dance by. There did not Seem to
be Either Melody Or Music In their touch. But after Such an Interval of Confinement Our
men were ready to Dance to Anything had It Even have been a Corn Stalk Fiddle.

With their Guitars were an Accompaniment of an Old Copper pan used as a Tam¬
bourine. To this Music did Our Men dance apparently with as much Satisfaction as though
It had been the finest Music in the world. I have Since heard Music from the fingers Of
a Spanish Lady upon the Guitar Of her Country which did Credit to the performer both
for taste and Skill. But those of whom we were first describing were Ladies from the
Lower Order and looked More to getting Jack’s Money than to the Notes of her Music.
Many of Our Lads had got Clear Of their Cash before noon by frequently treating their
partner and paying their fidler.

There was a young man In the watch with me who like myself did not much relish
this Kind of amusement. We, therefore, agreed to take a Stroll up Into the Country. We
therefore left this Den of Infamy and Vice, and Started for the Mountains. Here having
gained the top Of a high hill which gave a Commanding View Of the Whole Town and
a large Space Of the Surrounding Country, we Seated Ourselves for Several hours Enjoy¬
ing the beautiful Scene which lay like a map Spread Out before us.

The Town which Is built upon a low flat ground Seemed Immidiately under our feet
giving us a perfect birds Eye View of It. The waters of the Bay, too, being Scarcly Ruffled
by a breeze. Shone like a mirror with here and there a Ship upon Its bosom appearing
in the distance Seemed little more than a Small Dot upon the Surface. In the Distance and
toward the Sea lay the beautiful little Island of QuiraKina, forming the Entrance to the
Bay. And behind us the green tops of the Mountains rising In Majesty One above the
Other untill they mingled with the Snow Cap 1 tops Of the Cordilleares, and Seemed almost
to pierce the Sky. Around us lay Spread a beautiful plain which reaches to the City of
Concepcion and as It were Cover 0 * with velvet. Occasionally would pass a Rustic On his
way to Concepcion with his Caravan Of Donkeys and Pack of Dogs. The whole gave to
my young Mind an Impression which time Only Can Efface. Indeed, I think It was the
Most beautiful Prospect I have Ever Enjoyed.

Sunset found us All at the Boat agreeable to Orders. And, although Some Of Our
new Tars were So well In for it, they Could Scarcely get Into the Boat, yet none So far
trespassed as to break their Liberty and all returned Onboard the Ship good humourdly.
During Our Stay Each Watch took their daily turns On Shore, So that when Our Ship was
ready again for Sea, all hands had been well recruited and ready for Service.

■

Whilst at this place I became Intimately acquainted with the Aged Priest Or Curate
Of the Place. He Seemed to Evince the greatest Interest for me and In my well fare. This
was probably owing to my age and being thus Early Engaged In Sea Service. Everey Op¬
portunity which I had Onshore, my first Visit was Sure to be at his house. There I was
always treated Kindly. And he became So attached to me that he Shed tears, when I Call d
upon him for the last time to Say that we Should Sail In the morning. When Ever I had
paid the Old Man a Visit, he was Sure to have Some Good thing put away for me. As
he Spoke the English Language fluently, he gave me much good advice, which I have
placed with my heart’s dearest treasure and Shall Strive to retain untill I Shall Cease to
Breathe.

Father Francesco DeRosa, Of whom we have been Speaking, was born In Seville In
Old Spain and Emigrated to Chili In 1794, Since which he had never met with One In¬
dividual whom he Could Call a relative. In Speaking of his Friends at home, I have Seen
him weep most bitterly but would Chide himself by Saying, “Ah, well, My Sacrifice has
been great, tis true; but, If I have done any good, My Design has been accomplished. I
leave the rest with God.”

I do not believe the good Old Patriarch had an Enemy In the world. I have Since
Seen him at a Very Advanced Age on the Island of I umaco on the Coast of Peru In the
full enjoyment Of his health and faculties. I Care not what was the Professed faith Of this
Man. I believe If there Is a Christian permitted to live upon Earth, father Francisco was
that Man. He proved It to the World In his Walk through life, and after his Death I be¬
lieve his reward will be that of the righteous.

The houses at this town are Seldom built more than a Story and a half high, probably
owing to the frequent Shocks Of Earth Quakes with which they are troubled. The town
lies nine miles from the City of Concepcion In a North West direction through a beautiful
and level plain.

It is Defended by two Batteries Of forts, one upon the East Side of the Port upon
Very low ground, the[y] being Slightly Elevated above the level Of the Sea. And, I think,
are Capable under Ordinary management Of doing good Execution upon an Enemy’s
Ships. The Guns were Of 24 lbs Calibre, but many Of them were laying about the fort
with broken Carriages or Dismounted. The Other fort Is to the north west and Elevated
about one hundred feet above the level of the Sea and was fitted for Eight guns. But most
of them, as at the Other, lay unfit for use.

They have a great trade with the leeward Coast or Peru. I have In latter years Seen
Seven Ships loading with wheat, with which this Country abounds. There is also 1 imber,
Spars, and boards In abundance Carried from this port. The Surrounding Country Is To¬
lerably well Cultivated and abounds In Excellent Provisions. Bullocks, Horses and Sheep
are abundant here and Can be bought very Cheap. The Bay has many fish, but the In¬
habitants Seem to prefer the Muscle, a sort of Shell Fish which are Caught here with great
trouble. This business Of getting Muscles Seems to be Carried On principally by the
Women. It Is very Common to See them diving where there Is Six and Eight feet water
and fetching them up with their hands.

Amongst the upper Circles In the City of Concepcion, I think their Ladies Exceed Any
In point Of Beauty and Modesty that I have Seen upon the Coasts. Although Of later
years I have been Much upon that Coast and had many Opportunities Of Judging for My¬
self. But It Seems Very Strange In the great March of Improvements about the World,
more Especially amongst the Ever Changing fashions Of the Ladies, that Some Change of
fashion has not taken place here. For her you Still find midst their gayest Circles, the Old
fashioned Hoop Dress as worn by their Grandmothers a hundred years ago. This gives
them the appearance Of a Wine Cask Sawed Off In the middle and turned bottom up-

wards from their waist downwards. But they are very pleasing and agreeable In their man¬
ners. The Inhabitants Seem Very Much Mixed up and you find but Very few who may
not have a Claim to Indian Blood. 2

But I have Strayed from my Subject, and with your permission we will again return
to the Voyage of the Essex.

2 See Appendix B.

■HUM

Chapter Four

Provisioning At South America—With Some
Adventures as Well as Trade

After having Completed Our Recruits Of Vegetables 8cc., we weighed Anchor and
Stood out to Sea, We had hopes Of meeting with good fortune, for the Reader will Re¬
member that our Cargo Was to be Obtained from the bosom Of the open Ocean. Once
more at Sea, we took up Our Course along the Coast of Chili and ploug[h]ed to and fro—
with very little Success, and frequently Meeting with Ships who, like Ourselves, were Seek¬
ing In Vain the Oily treasures Of the deep.

Here we frequently met with Lord Cochranes detatched fleet, who were Cruising for
Spanish Vessels, at that time was very numerous, the Most of the Coast of Peru being then
In posession Of the Royalists or E[u]ropean Spaniards. We at One time fell In with One
Of his Prize Sloops Of War, the Eagle, being Entirely destitute Of provisions and Supplied
them; otherwise, being very far at Sea, their Suffering must very Soon have been great.

We Continued to Cruise Over that part of the Ocean untill the Season Of Whaling
had terminated. And, having Obtained but 250 Bbls Of Oil, which was a very Small por¬
tion for the time Occupied, We Steered to the Northward for the Milder Coast of Peru.
We did not, however, Make a direct Course toward that coast for this area was Considered
a good whaling range, and the more distance Sailed Over by us the better Chance Of Ob¬
taining that which we Most desired. We, therefore, Steerd to the North West about twelve
hours, and North East for the Same Number Of hours Of Each day, thereby Passing Over
all possible distance, being plainly In Sight of the Land at One time and at Others two
hundred miles distant. This no doubt will Seem a tedeous Mode Of making a passage, but
it will be borne In mind that we were Searching for whales.

In working along this Coast the lofty Andes Mountains frequently Show their tops,
but most of the time they are Cover 1 * with a thick Mist. In about the Lattitude Of 14 to
18 Degrees South the weather Is generally very gloomy as the Sun Is Rare In View. And
It frequently Occurs that a Ship is many days without a Meridian Observation, the Su[n]
being Constantly Obscured by a thick mist. The Winds too are Very boisterous In those
regions, notwithstanding It bears the name Of Pacific Ocean, And frequently, whilst Cruis¬
ing for whales, we have been Compell^ to Close reef Our Sails.

We were on the whole rather fortunate with Our whaling and In two months had
taken about four hundred and fifty barrells Of Oil. This was very difficult to Obtain In
Consequence Of Such a high and Rolling Sea that Our boats were very much Injured in
hoisting them from the water, and were on more than One Occasion damaged alongside
by the heaving Rolling Of the Ship.

We have fell In company with the Whaling Ship Aurora from Nantucket, Captain
Daniel Russel, only five Months from home. This to us was late Very late news, for we
had not hear 1 * from home Since we had Sailed which had been ten Months. They had
brought us plenty of Letters and Some newspapers, a rich treat truly. After the Captain
and Officers had Selected theirs, the Mail bag was Sent forward for the Crew to Overhaul
and pick for themselves.

What is So pleasing as to receive letters from our friends after So long an Absence
from them! Why, What Young School Miss, even at the Short distance of a boarding
School In Our Own Country, Cannot appreciate Our delightful Occupation for a Short
time. One Can realize how Much we Enjoyed who found a Letter In the package, or the
disappointment of those who had none. It was amusing to watch those Of Our lads who
been disappointed and found no letters for them. They would follow us around the decks.

and whilst we were reading Our letters would Seat themselves beside us, as though our
Letters Could be of Service to them or Convey news from their Own friends.

But as Our family letters Could be Of no Interest to them, they were Compell^ to
Seek for news In the Careless folds of a newspaper. This Ship had also brought us a few
Of them which next to letters was the greatest treat they Could have given us. Many of
us Set up all Our next watch below to overhaul them. And although they did not Contain
any very important news, yet to us the whole was Interesting, and I learned the Contents
So well by heart, that I Could have repeated them Six months afterwards.

The Aurora was direct from a town called Arica, a Small town which lies In the 18 1 ^
Degrees South Lattitude; and, as the prevailing winds were from the S.-East, being In the
I rades, lay directly to the Windward Of us. But as Captain Russel gave a very good ac¬
count of Its facilities for recruiting our men and Obtaining an easy Supply of water that
Our Captain resolved to go there immediately. We accordingly Set All Our Sails, haul 0 *
too our tracks, and Commenced plying to windward, and on the tenth day gained an An¬
chorage In the harbour of Arica.

Here we found the Ship Mary of London, Captain Zenas Ford, On a trading voyage,
which we Consider ( a fortunate Circumstance as they were afterward Of much Company
for us. They had truly a fine Ships Company being a fine Class Of young men, who
Seemed to feel that they had a Reputation to maintain.

This 1 own was at this time under government Of the Crown Of Spain, and remained
So untill A Short time before the Castles of Callao was Evacuated by Gen 1 Rodil. It was
not retained for Its Strength but left unmolested for Its minor Importance, Serving Only
as a fit place for plunder whenever the army Of Patriots Came that way.

It was taken and pillaged a Short time preveous to Our arrival there by the fleet under
Command of Cochrane. Even the Churches were plundered Of all their valuables. This
however was Contrary to the Orders of the Admiral. It is a town Of but little trade, and
there May have been four or five thousand Inhabitants and a Garrison Of Eight hundred
men. 1 hey were badly Clothed and worse Officer^. This probably accounts for the town’s
having Surrender 0 So Easily, for I was told that Only three guns were fired from Town
when they Surrender”.

There are a few Small Mines In the Interior, but not much worked upon. Their
houses are built of Bamboo with the Cracks fill 0 * with dried Mud and In a few Instances
are whitewashed. The Inhabitants are Very Much Mixed with the Negro blood. They have
a fort with about I en Guns Mounted upon It but pierced for a larger number; and there
was also a Fort upon the high headland South Of the Garrison Kept there.

The Anchorage Is Safe although It Is an Open harbour. But as the Wind never blows
from the Sea there Is no danger In that direction. This harbour Is much frequented by
a Species Of whale Call the hump back. They Swim very near the Ships at the Common
Anchorage.*

Fresh water Can be Obtained at this place Easily, for you have Only to take a Shovel
with you on Shore, and by digging a hole In the beach Of two feet you Can have a beau¬
tiful Spring to fill any quantity you may require. The only Obstacle you may meet with
Is the Surf In rafting Off your Cask. But by Catching a Smoothe Sea you Can Easily Ob¬
viate this Difficulty, and you may get Of[f] three hundred barrels pr Day if necessary.

The markets at this place are badly Supplied and but few vegetables are to be had.
In fact the whole Country in this vicinity is notorious for Its barrenness and but very little
produce Can be looked for.

*See Appendix B.

Whilst we were at this port, there was a party given Onboard the Mary by the Captain
to the Governor and Suite. All the Civil Officers 8c Aristocracy of the Port were Invited
as well as the Captain Of Our Ship. The Ship was decorated with national and private Col¬
ours tastefully arranged; and, being a handsome Ship, all Combin*^ to make a Very Im¬
posing appearance.

There was Considerable Amusement On board. There was a rope Call 01 a whip pur¬
chase rigged out from the main yard, with a Cover ecl Chair attached to the lower End.
The Chair was lower e * Into the boat when a Lady would be Seated, and Secured by means
of a belt passing around the Waist So that they Could not possibly fall out. When the word
“Whip” was given, the Seamen would hoist them up In the twinkling Of an Eye. And when
the lady did not appear to be much frighten**, the would lower her without delay upon
deck. But when a timid one occupied the Chair, Jack was Sure to run her up to the main
yard, a distance of forty feet, and hold them Suspended in the air for Several Minutes,
to the great delight of their more fortunate friends who had been Safely landed upon
Deck.

Soon as all were onboard there was a grand national Salute fired from the Ship which
made all tremble with the unexpected Shock. After which an Excellent Dinner was Served
up when all Set to with that natural Gusto So familliar to a Spaniard Indeed the guests
Seemed to Enjoy the whole, and Especially did they do justice to the Captains wine and
Brandy. For In a Short time the empty bottles Could be Seen In a String for half a mile
on the Sea as they had been rifled and thrown overboard, the tide having taken them
along like a row of Indians marching Single file. The Party broke up before night fall,
and the Commandant gave a ball on the Same Evening at his house.

There was amongst the Company an old Friar Who was familliarly Known by the Cog¬
nomen Of father Sideacco. He was the life of Africa. No party Could be Complete without
his presence. He Created Mirth wherever he Came. Even In the Streets he was Known
as the Jester. His long black Robes which Caused him to appear So Saintlike, Screen** him
not from the jests and jeers Of the people.

And on the Occasion Of which we have been Speaking, as the boats were returning
to Shore with the party,. . . the two boats which had taken In the Ladies had Succeeded
In landing them Safely. Although the Surf through which they had to pass was Rolling
very high upon the beach, they had disembarked and from the beach was anxiously watch¬
ing the boat which Contain* 1 the favourite Friar. And whilst they were yet looking, there
Came a towering high Sea which Completely Overwhelmed the boat, and She was upset
Instantly being then fifty yards from the Shore. The boat was turned upon the heads Of
the Inmates, and all very narrowly Escaped being drowned.

But after rescuing all that Could be Seen, Our Common friend the priest was Still mis¬
sing. At length his three Corner* 1 hat was Seen floating near the boat and amongst the
wild billows of the Surf. There was upon this discovery a general burst Of Grief amongst
the Ladies. All had given him up for lost, and were about to turn from the dreadful Scene
in grief and Mourning when a loud Shriek was hear** from Seaward. The boat was Still
floating about upon the Surface and amongst the breakers, but nothing Seen Of the Old
Man. The boats had Ventured Off to try and Save the broken boat from the breakers.
When On turning It Over, Lo, there lay the priest, apparently Cool and Collected. His
first words were, “Ah, My friends, you did not look much to the Old Man, but 1 hope
the Ladies are Safe.”

On being assured Such was the fact, he again assumed his wonted Cheerfulness. The
Cause of his having been So long hidden from us was that he had been Cover** by the
boats having turn* directly upon him. And as it had been raised by retaining a portion
of wind beneath, he by laying upon his back and holding On upon the timbers had thus

been enabled to breathe and Sustain 0 life untill releasd by us as above Stated. And as he
Could not Swim he darenot let go his hold. Hence the Cause Of being hidden So long
from Our view.

He did not however favour the Evening party with his presence, but the boats Crews
with myself had the pleasure of taking a parting draught Of Sherry at the Parsonage. And
there we parted with the Old Man to many Of us for the last time upon Earth.

As we had now finished the Recruiting Of Our Ship this being the Sole Object for
which we Came to this Port. We weighed Our anchor on the next morning and Steered
out once more to Sea, and remained near this port for Some length Of time. For the
reader will not forget that Ours was a whaling voyage and Obtained but few whales which
yealded but little Oil.

And after the Season had Expired bore up and Steered to the northward. During this
Course we Coasted generally In Sight Of the land, and passed very near the Lobos Islands.
I hese are two Small Islands laying about Seven leagues distant from the Main land of
Peru. Here we met with many native fishermen who Came from the adjacent Coast for
fish around those Islands.

The form Of their boats are very Curious and Called by them the Cattemaran. It is
formed with having a number of logs tied together, or lashed as the Sailor would have
it, being a very light kind of wood and Is perhaps as buoyant as Cork. These logs are
about thirty feet long and two feet diameter. They are Secured by Small Cross Sticks which
are So lashed as to Keep them a little distance apart, between which the water passes
freely. Their Masts are Secured by a Sort Of raised Work In the Centre to the height of
Several feet, through which the mast leads down and Secures to a bottom log. They have
a large Square Sail Something narrowed at the head, and Set after the plan of the latin
[lateen] Sail. They are Steered by means of a long Strip of plank put between the logs
at any Convenient place near the Stern.

I here is vast numbers of Sea fowls and many Seals around this group Of Islands, but
as we made no Stop, I shall not make my attempt to describe them. The Whole Coast from
Arica to the Lobos Islands presents to the eye a Continued Stretch of Sunburnt and barren
hills near the Sea Coast.

The town of Paita lays a Short distance to the north of these Islands and Is a place
of Considerable note. We have an American Consulate Established there. It Is on the
South Side of the bay of Colon which makes it an Excellent harbour and a famous resort
for Our whaling Ships which frequent those Seas. Here they Can Obtain a good Supply
of Sweet potatoes, Onions and Cabbages with a few pumpkins but no water. Even the
water used In the town Is brot upon mules from the Surrounding Country.

The river I umbez Is much frequented by whalers for water. This lies in Latt ( * of
3 and would be an Excellent watering place were It not for there being a bar to Cross
before getting Into the river and at times the sea breaks very high. It often happens that
the Ships get their Casks broken in pieces and Come Off with the loss of men. There is
some vegetation to be Obtained at this place Such as Sweet potatoes, yams, and with a
Scanty Supply of tropical Fruits.

Chapter Five

From The Coast of Peru To Hunting For Terrapin
At The Galapagos Islands

Let us now return to the Voyage of the Essex. After having Made a Short Stay at the
Lobos Islands, we Steered away to the northward making a Sort Of Zig Zag Course Some
times near the Shore and at Others far off at Sea. We finally Crossed the Equator an

made the best Of Our way for the town of Tacames. . . ..

This town Is very Small, Composed Of bamboo huts with thatched Roofs and built
upon Stakes raised about twenty feet from the ground. They are thus raised, as well to
Keep them from mosqutoes as from the wild beasts which prowl about town during the
night time. It Is in Latt. 00 50 m,n North of the Wquator and Contains about three
hundred inhabitants, a mixture of the Spanish and Indians. They are a very kind and Civi
race to Strangers but are Extremely poor. I dont believe the whole town Could produce

one thousand Dollars In Cash. ,

Every requisite Of food may be found here. Of meats they make but little use them¬
selves, Keeping the most to Sell to the Shipping. Their food Consists Chiefly In Plantains,
but they have abundance Of Excellent Oranges. They raise Some few potatoes and Pine
apples but, as these require Some labour, they grow as few as possible. Hither we made
our way and gain d an anchorage to lay In a Store of wood and water for a long Cruise

to the Westward. „ , _ . _ r , . .

We found laying at this place the Ship George Of London, Cap Benneford, I he ship

had returned from a long whaling voyage, having nearly all his men down With the
Scurvy He was Compell d to hire a house on Shore and make It a hospital for his whole
Ships Company, as he had but three men out of a lot of forty Capable of doing Duty.
But under good managment they all recover without the loss Of a Single man.

The Whaline Ship Lady Adams Of Nantucket, [Captain Shubael Hussey], arrived dur-
ing Our Stay at this place for the Same purpose Of Ourselves, that Of recruiting for a
long Season. Twas On One very pleasant day the Captains Of the two American Ships got
up a Cruise In the Woods for hunting Of Wild turKies. They had employed the Cooks
the day preveous to baking Pies, etc., for a long hunt. I being the youngest boy Onboard
was Chosen to make up the Company In place Of a hunters dog. We accordingly having
Every preparation, made our Start on the day appointed for the bush

We had travell d about three hours Over the meadows and through the woods toward
the hunting grounds, when we heard before us the most dismal howling that Can be Im-
magined. We Continued On Our way until We Seemed to be approaching nearer and
nearer the Spot Whence the dismal Sounds came. Then the two Captains Came to a full
Stop- [they] looked at Each other a few moments as though they wished to Say Something
which Each was ashamed to open first; when the turned Simultaneously around, making
good their retreat. Simply remarking that the walking was So bad and the Sun So Ex¬
tremely hot they would return and take a Cooler day for the Excursion

I have Since visited that town and formed what Sort Of animal had So Seriously
alarmed us. It Is a Small bird, not larger than the hunting bird of our Country which
Keeps up a Continued noise night and day and may easily be mistaken lor Something
more dangerous. Although our hunt was put off to an Other day, it was never proposed
again We were Compels to be Satisfied with a few tame turKies purchased In Town In¬
stead Of Our game roaming In the Woods. And like most of treasures, we will leave them
behind the mountain.

After having Obtained a Supply Of Wood and Water, the mam articles for which we

ajpmi Set Sail from this place. We now directed Our Course for a Group Of
the Gallapagos, with the hope of getting a Supply of Terrapin. These islands

Came, we a^

Islands Call the Gallapagos, with the hope of getting a Supply of Terrapin. .
a " d J he terra P'» have been ably described by C om Porter during Our last war with En-
g an . After a passage of Six days we gained an Anchorage at Hoods Island. We Caught
a few whales In making this passage which Swell d our little quantity Of Oil to about 700
barrels. We anchor In five fathoms water on the northwest part of the Island. There is
a small bay Call 0 Stephens Bay. In this we Came to Anchor.

As the prevailing winds at this place Is from SE, a Ship Could be hove down In this
harbour without danger. The Surrounding beach upon this, as well as all the Other Is¬
lands, are a beautiful Snow White, and In an Evening appears like Snow. There were
many Seals of the hair Species but I Saw no fur Seals at this place. Those Islands appear
of Volcanic Origin. The rocks appear very much burn d , Of very dry Snuff. In treading
upon those rocks as you pass from One to the Other they ring much like pot metal.

C medlod ta * t ' n g terrapin by the Seamen who touch at these Islands Is as follows.

I hey first provide themselves with Strips of Canvass formed like Suspenders, with Small
Cords at Each End. Thus prepared they Start off Into the Country from two to five miles,
then divide into pairs or go Singly, as they may Choose, Keeping a Sharp look out as they
pass on under the trees for the Object of their Search. And when any one finds more than
he Can Carry to the boat alone, he Cries Out at the top of his voice. If any are In hearing,
that have no load. Of Course they Come to the Sound untill they find him.

I hey then Commence to harness their prisoner. They Sieze him, turn him upon his
back and place a large Stone upon the Shell, beneath the Knee joint, which prevents the
terrapin from drawing In his legs during the operation of harnessing. They then tie those
.Small Cords which are attached to the belts, to the Legs, a little above the foot. The victim
thus bound Is thrown upon the back of the man In waiting passing the belts over his
Shoulders to Secure him. In that position they then Start for the boat beneath the pow¬
erful rays of an burning Sun. And, trust me, when I tell you theirs Is no Enviable Situ¬
ation. Their average weight Is about Eighty lbs, but I have Often Seen them weigh four
hundred. &

Their Constant uneasiness whilst Carrying them, together with the very uneven walk¬
ing and Constant giving way Of Stones beneath ones feet, makes It, I have Often thought
the harder labour that Can be given to man. And I have often Seen an Irritable Seaman
throw them from his back upon the Rocks, breaking In the whole top Shell then. Sitting
himself upon the rocks. Call down all the bitter Curses he Could think of upon the head
of the poor unfortunate terrapin, which lay bleeding at his feet. It is Customary for each
man to make three trips pr day Into the woods, and bring Each his load to the boat

I he Shape of this animal resembles In Some measure Our Small land tortoise which
Is found upon the upland 5 and Is like It, high with round back. They have a very long
neck which with their head resembles very Much a Snake and forms a very disagreeable
appearance. I have often Seen them with neck more than two feet In length.

They have a very novel, and yet harmless mode of Combat. They will approach each
other as nearly as possible. Then, Stretching out the necks from the Shell to Its utmost
Extremity with mouth open, they appear like the most Spiteful reptile. They will Stand
In that position for a few moments, with their mouthes, head and neck quivering with
rage. When the Vanquished party will percieve the victors head a little above his own and
Shrink back In an Instant, that decides the Contest. The Vanquished will then draw his

neck head and legs as Closely Into the Shell as possible and remain In that position untill
the Victor has taken himself away. r

And what Seems more remarKable Is that although the Combattants often meet upon
the decks afterward, I have never Known them to renew the attack. This I believe to be

their only mode of warfare. They have no teeth, their mouth s being formed like a Parrot’s
bill. When upon the Islands they are very Sagacious In taking Care of themselves and Sec-

reting their Eggs.

They are Often Kept for a long time Onboard a Ship without food, or water. I have
Known them Kept Seven Months without Either, but It Is Certainly very cruel. Many
people Contend that they don 1 feel the Knawings of hunger as other animals do. But of
this I Cannot be persuaded; for I have Observed them when Kept In that way to be Con¬
stantly moving around the decks tasting Of Every thing that lay within their reach. Their
food Is Of the Cabbage tree, which Is a very Juicey, tasteless tree peculiar to those Islands.

During One Of daily Excurcions We Miss d , One Of Our shipmates, named Benjamin
Lawrence. He had gone away from the boat In the morning and lost his Way, having gone
too far across the Island without noteing his land marks for return. And although we all
Set about looking him up, It was night when he return d to the boat. He was very much
exhausted as he had passed the Whole day without food or water under a burning Sun
of 110 De S.

He related to us his day’s journey thus: that, after having parted with his Company
In the Woods, he had Struck Off In a S. East direction untill he found a terrapin. This
he harness d and threw upon his back and Started In what he believed to be the direction
Of the Ship. But It Must have been quite an Opposite direction. After walking for Severaj
hours and finding himself In an Impassable thicket, he let his back load go and Climb
a tree to find If possible Some Clew to his position, but Could See nothing to direct him.
He now began to realize In Some measure his Situation, as he remember ( that the Island
produced no water only at the rainy Season.

He now renew d , his march In Search Of the Sea beach at any Point of the Island,
determined to follow the beach untill he Should See the Ship. He now began to feel the
need of a Cooling Stream; and, as he Soon met with a terrapin, he Soon Struck up a bar¬
gain with him for his blood. He therfore Cut off the animals head and drank the warm
blood as It Came Oozing from the Wound. This was Of Some Service In Strengthening
him for his Journey and he again Marched On. A few hours travel brought him upon the
Sea Shore, but from the tallest tree the Ship Could not be Seen.

He Continued his march upon the beach amidst a burning Sand for he felt quite Cer¬
tain that by doing So he must at Some period meet with his friends. He finally after a
long and weary march Of It, Saw the Ship In the distance and began to dread the laugh
which would be turned upon him If he return ( to the boat Empty handed, he therfore
Struck Off again Into the Woods and Soon having Selected a terrapin, backed him and
got to the boat Soon after night fall. All were overjoyed to See him again In Safety and
heartily Welcom d him to the boat.

After having remain,d at this Island four days, and Procur One hundred and Eighty
terrapin, we again Set Sail. Hoods Island Is In l^ e 8 = 20 m South Lattitude and
89^ e g = 40 m West Longitude. We now directed Our way towards Charles Island, One of
the Same groupe. This island was a famous Resort for Capt Porter In the Frigate Essex*
during our last war with England. At this Island we arrived the next morning about nine
O,clock. There Is an Excellent[t] harbour on the Southwest Side Of the Island. The trees,
to the Southward of the anchorage Show to be of good growth, and things about Indicate
a good Soil.

We Obtained One hundred terrapins at this Island but found them to be Very Scarce.
The terrapin Of this Island, are the Most rich flavour* and delicious meat I have ever
met with. It was not unfrequently that we took from them Eight to ten lbs. of fat. This
was as Clear and pure as the best of yellow Butter and of a rich flavour. We took one
of those animals on board which weight Six hundred lbs and took Six Of Our men to

Carry him to the beach with Cross poles. He appear d very old and we gave him the name
of the Commodore, but as he never Came quick at the Call, We presume he did not tu y
appreciate the Cognomen.

There Is at those Islands a Curious animal Called the “Guano” [Iguana]. There ar
two Kinds, the Land Guano and the Sea Guano. The latter is amphibious and Seems to
live amongst the rocks, whilst the land guano Is a different Sort of animal and resemb es
Our Lizards, but grow to a much larger Size. They have four legs and grow to about two
feet In length. They look very old and ugly. Their Colour resembles the burned rocks of
that Country which has a dirty yellowish Cast. Their Skin looks very rough and uneven.

I have Known many persons Eat them with a Gusto and pronounce them Excellent tood.

The Pelicans of this Island are very numerous and worthy of Some notice. 1 hey have
a large bill perhaps a foot long, with a natural bag reaching from the throat to near the
End of the bill. Beneath It the under jaw Is So formed that It Can be Spread Open anc
thus forms a net. The bag will Expand and Contain more than half a peck. With this net
they Supply themselves and their young with food. They make a very Clumsy and aw
ward appearance when In the act of diving for fish, as they then Extend their wings. Open

the mouth and Spread the Wide and awKward foot.

Green Turtle are found here In abundance. The whalers make little or no use of them
as the Terrapin are So far preferable for the table. This Island has a better Soil upon It
than any Other Island Of the groupe. But I think two hundred acres of good and would
be a large Calculation for it, the remainder being burned or parched soil and loose Rock.
At this time there was no Inhabitants upon Charles Island and Of Course no Cultivation.

We had with us an Englishman, a boatstearer, named Thomas Chappel. He was very
Wild and fond of fun at whatever Expence It might be produced. This lad took with him
a tinder !x>x on shore unKnown to any one and Set fire to the underbrush and trees. This
being the dry Season It Spread with fearful rapidity and burned freely. Crossing our paths
In Every direction and Cutting Off our retreat to the boats. On Our return we were Com-
nell d to Run the gauntlet. There being no alternative, we were Many Of us forced to drop
our heads and run through the blazing brush for many yards. Tis true we got a little
Singed In Our hair and Clothing, but all Came Off with a whole Skin. And It was well
for him that we didnot Know at the time whose trick It was. For I can assure you. It took
our lads Some time to Cool off. And the Captain’s wrath Knew no bounds. Swearing Ven¬
geance upon the head Of the Incendiary Should he be discover .

There Can be no Estimate Of the destruction Caused by this fire to the animal Cre¬
ation On my return to this place many years afterwards the ruin was Still visible. Wher¬
ever the fire raged neither trees, Shrubbry, nor grass have Since appeard. And judging
from the Fxtent of desolate ground, there must have been thousands upon thousands of
Terrapin, Birds, Lizards, and Snakes destroyed. And It probably burned unt.ll the rainy

Season again Set In_At day light. On the Morning of October the 23 , we weighed

our anchor. Set all Sails and again put to the Sea. After we lost Sight of the land we Could

Still See the reflection from the blazing fire.

We now directed Our Course towards the western, or as It Is termed, the Off Shore
Whaling ground. Nothing occurred worthy of note during this passage, with the Exception
of Occasionally Chasing a wild Shoal of whales to no purpose, untill the morning of the
^NoSer Then being in l D 'fUOO"> Sou.h Uuitude 4 118^00"' We* Lon-
gitude, a Shoal of Whales was descried from the mast head. All hands was Summoned to
prepare the boats for lowering and to chase the whales.

The boat of the First Mate, Mr. Chase, had a quicker crew, and speedily came
alongside a large whale. The Mate had called his harpooner to throw his dart, when, as
quick as thought the whale turned to come up under the boat, capsizing her, smashing

in one side, and throwing us into the sea. Strange as it may seem, none were hurt. Another
boat soon came up to take us in, and then bring us back to the ship, which was close at
hand.

Chapter Six

“The Monster ... Again Struck The Ship a Tremendous Blow
With His Head Upon the Larboard Bow.”

We now Come to give an account of the ShipWrecK of the Essex and Subsequent Suf¬
ferings Of the Crew whilst lingering In their whale boats.

Nothing Occurrd from Our last untill the morning Of the 20*^ November when all
hands was Suddenly aroused by a Cry from the man at the mast head, who had sighted
whales. The boats were Instantly lower” and In full persuit. The boat Of the Chief Mate
Soon Came up with and attacKed a Small whale when, with the flourish Of Its tail, the
boat was badly Stoven [on] one Side, and was filling very rapidly with water. . . . Each Of
us in the boat Strip, Off Our Shirts and Cram” them Into the hole which was broken
doen. This prevented the boat from Sin King and gave us an Opportunity to return to the
Ship In our own Boat.

The other two boats had already got amongst the whales In an other direction and
had fasten** to two Of them, being then about two miles to leward from the Ship. In the
mean time we had got Our broken boat to the Ship having hoisted her upon the Cranes,
and the mate at work repairing the breach temporarily. When I, being then at the helm
and looking On the Windward Side Of the Ship, Saw a very large Whale approaching us.

I Call” Out to the Mate to Inform him Of It. On his Seeing the Whale, he Instantly
gave me an Order to put the helm hard up, and Steer down towards the boats. I had
Scarecely time to Obey the Order, when I heard a loud Cry from Several Voices at Once—
that the Whale was Coming a-foul of the Ship. Scarcely had the Sound of their voices
reached my Ears when It was followed by a tremendeous Crash.

The Whale had Struck the Ship with his head, directly under the larboard fore Chain
at the waters Edge, with Such force as to Shock Every man upon his feet. The whale then
Setting under the Ships bottom Came up on the Starboard Side and directly under the
Starboard quarter. This last position gave the mate a fine opportunity to have Kill,** him
with a throw of his lance.

His first Impulse was to do So, but on a Second look, Observing his tail directly be¬
neath the rudder, his better judgment prevail 0 *, lest a flourist of the tail Should unhang
the Rudder and Render the Ship unmanagable. But could We have fore Seen all that So
Soon followed, he would probably have Chosen the lesser Evil and have Saved the Ship
by Killing the whale Even at the Expense of losing the Rudder. For as we will Show all
was not yet Over.

Instead of leaving the Ship, the monster took a turn off about three hundred yards
ahead, then turning Short around, Came with his utmost Speed and again Struck the Ship
a tremendeous blow with his head upon the larboard bow, and with Such force as to Stave
In the whole bow at the waters Edge. One of the Men who was below at the time Came
Running upon deck Saying, “The Ship Is filling with water.”

The first Order was to try the pumps, but of this they were Spared the trouble. For
on going to the hatchway It was discover” that already had the water appered above the
lower deck. On discovering this We turned our attention to getting Clear the whale-boat,
which was Stowed overhead and bottom upwards. It was the only boat left us, with which
we Could Expect to Escape. This was no Easy tasK under the present Excitement.
Nevertheless, we Succeeded In getting her Out without Injury, although the Ship was
Waterlog, and fast falling upon her Side.

In the Mean time the Steward had not been Idle. He had twice Enterd the Cabin

under the mo>L crying Circumstances, and at his peril, had bro, 1 out the trunKs of the Cap¬
tain and ma.e and also two Quadrants and two of Bowditch 8 practical navigators. These
with the two Compasses taKen from the binnacle was all that we had an opportunity Of
getting Into the boat, now In the Water.

The Scene at this moment—no one Can ever realize to Its Extent unless they have
been In Such a Situation under Simalar Circumstances. What an association Of Ideas
flashed across Our minds on the Instant. Here lay Our beautiful Ship, a floating and dis¬
mal Wreck,—which but a few minutes before appeard In all her glory, the pride and boast
of her Cap* and Officers, and almost Idolized by her Crew. With all Sails neatly Set and
trim (l to the breeze, presenting to the Eye of the fac Similie Of a Ship about to leave the
harbour On a Summer day, under the admiring gaze Of hundreds to Witness Such a
Scene.

Here She now lay. Snatched untimely from her Stateliness Into a mere Shadow of
what She was; and Our Selves deprived Of the home which her goodly Sides had So long
afforded us. Now, at the least Six hundred miles from the nearest land and that land too,
In a direction Rendering It Impossible Of approach, being directly to the Windward of
us. And as the trade winds blow In the Same direction the whole year around, this of
Course, left us no hope In that direction. Our Only Chance was In a more distant land,
In a more favourable position.

The boats Of the Captain and Second Mate at the time of the accident were, as I have
before Stated, about two miles to the leward Of the Ship, and Each fast to a whale Sep-
erately. Their first Intimation Of the loss was when the boatstearers, looking In direction
Of the Ship, Cried out to the Captain: “Look, look, what ails the Ship. She is upsetting.”

He describes It as bearing the appearance at First Sight Of a Ship Caught In a Sudden
and hard Squall Or gust of wind, with the Sails flying In all directions, and the vessel
nearly turned upon One Side. In a twinkling all Eyes were turned In that direction. But
judge Of their Surprise for on looking, no Ship was to be Seen. They Of Course Could
have no just Conception Of what had taken place.

There were many Conjectures as to the Cause of the loss, but none for a moment

thought of a whale having done the Work. They however lost no time In disengaging

themselves from their fish, and making toward the direction In which the Ship was last
Seen. They had not gone far before they discovered the hulK floating upon her Side and
presenting the appearance of a Rock.

On Coming up to the Ship and making Some little Inquiry, the Captain s first Order

was to Cut away the Masts and try If possible to get the Ship more upright; then to Scuttle

the decks with the hope to get at Some provisions, and water. They then got upon the
Ship’s Side and Cut away the laniards = This done, the main mast broke Off about twenty
feet above deck; and also the head Of the Mizen Mast, and Fore top mast broke above
the Cap, 2 ncl the Ship Righted to an angle Of 45 degrees. Now we Commenced to Cut
Open the decks In different parts of the Ship. But unfortunately for us Our provisions
were mostly In the lower hold and Could not be Come at.

We Could Only Obtain two Casks of Ship Bread weighing about 500 lbs, and two
Small hogs, which Came Swimming to the boats from amongst the Wreck, and Some half
dozen terrapin. With this little Stock of food then, we are forced to be Satisfied and thanks
be to God, who Is Ever watching over us, that It Is no less. We now turned out attention
to getting Some of the Ships light Sails where with to make a full Suit of Sails for Our
boats. As the boats are now our only Ship we knew we must Improve Something upon
them Ere we made a final Start from Wreck.

Chapter Seven

The Long Sea Voyage of the Whaleboats of The
Essex Begins on November 23, 1820.

I Shall Now Commence My Work In form of a Sea journal, and am Indebted to Our
Chief Mat, Mr Owen Chase, for dates from his pencil" Log book Kept at the time, and
which Is the Only means I have Of getting at dates Correctly as I wiote no log Or Journal
at the time myself. We Shall for Convenience write up Our work by Sea ac’t [account].

November 21 st , 1820. Strong trade winds from the South East, with pleasant wea¬
ther but very Rough Sea. Lay the boats during the Night a few yards astern of the wreck.

At daylight hau! d alongside the wreck and renewed the Search for provisions but without
further Success. We now give Over the Search, and Set to work at Making Sails lor the
boats. Fortunately the Mate has Saved In his trunk, a quantity of twine and Sail needles
which In Our Case Is Invaluable. This is truly a busy day, and On the whole we See more
Cheerful faces than we had dared to Expect.—We find by Our Observation that we have
been driven In a Northwest direction by the Current Since the Ship Wreck, a distance of
forty Nine Miles = Our Lattitude this day is

By Observation 00 = 06 mi es f SK ^ South
Longitude pr ac l 119 = 30 West.*

November the 22 nc *. The Weather Is remarkably fine, and We are Cheerfully at work
MaKing Sails for our boats, and planKing them up at the Sides to Make them more Safe
In Keeping out the Sea &c. This we do with boat boards In their rough State, which we
have been So fortunate as to Save from the Wreck, One of these boards being lap, o\er
the Other about two Inches. This, when finished, will raise the Sides Of the boats about
Eighteen Inches higher than they were Originally and will form an Excellent barrier to
the Sea.

The night Is Now upon us again, and we have Veered Our boats again Astern Ut
the wreck to await the return of day light. All hands Save Myself are wrape, in Sweet
Sleep, and Seem to be Enjoying (unconcious of their awful Condition), the Soft Side of
a plank. I have been very waKeful through the night Catching Occasionally a few moments
Repose. But to the high Rolling of the Swell and Constant tossing Of Our little boat, the
CreaKing of Spars and timbers about the wrecK, I must attribute my lack of Rest, which
Others So well Enjoy—Well, Sleep on Ship mates, It will refresh you for the Coming day.
You will need all your Energies for the Contest—I Cannot Expect rest to the body, when
the Mind will not be Composed.

Daylight at length appeared. We hauled our boats again to the Wreck, and t<x>k a look
for provisions but found none. Our Only hope now, Is that Something More may Come
floating from the lower hold amidst the general Confusion. The weather Still holds fine
and pleasant with Its usual South East trade wind. This Morning the decKs of the Ship
began to give way, and there Is Strong threats of a Speedy dissolution. Indeed It Seems
from the Constant worKing and Straining of the Vessel that She will Soon disappear and
leave Ourselves and Our frail barks alone upon the Surface, to point Out Where She has
been. The Casks of Oil are Continually bursting and flowing out from the hold Of the
Ship filling the whole Surface Of the deep With the fruits Of Our labour, as far as the
Eye Can reach. How truly heart-rending the Scene. Here at one view Are Our flighted
prospects and the reward Of Our toil, Scatter" to the Winds.

•The Sea Account ran from 12 o'clock noon to 12 on the following noonday.

Having now Completed the fitting Of Our boats, and feeling Satisfied that no more
provision Can be Obtained by Remaining longer by the Wreck, we have determined to Set
Sail Immediately. One Of Our Men now Climbed to the top of the Foremast of the Ship,
to take a last looK over the horizon to See If perchance any Ship may be In View from
that Elevation. But In vain did his Eyes glance Anxiously Over the Surface Of the deep
for No Vessel Could be Seen. And he was forced to return to us again without bringing
to us any new hope of delivery.

It being now near noon, the Captain wished to remain by the wreck until! that hour,
for Convenience of getting an Observation. He Called the Officers togather and held
Council with them as to the best Route to be taken with the boats. His first desire was,
that the boats Should Keep together and make for the Society Islands, they being In a
Southwesterly direction and Consequently far under our lee. And how truly unfortunately
for us all that his first wish was not Complied with, for In ten days at fartherest we Could
have been landed Safely, probably without the loss of a Single Individual.

The officers howevere differd In Opinion upon that Point, and urged upon him to
go up the Coast. And when Clear Of the trade wind, they urged the probability of a
Speedy passage to the Coast of Chili. Not wishing to oppose where there was two against
One, the Cap 1 reluctantly yealded to their arguments, and It was decided that we Should
go up the Coast as they term , It. Fatal Error. How many warm hearts has Ceased to beat
In Consequence of It.

We now Set about dividing Our men and forming them Into boat’s Crews. Our Com¬
plement at this time Consisted of fourteen Whites, Men & Boys, with Six Colourd, In all
twenty. Of these we distributed as follows. In the Captains boat Seven,—Mates boat, Seven,
and In the Second mates boat Six. And we had Saved one Musket, two horse Pistols and
about two lbs of Powder. The Captain Retaining the Musket, gave to Each officer a Pistol,
and Equally divided the powder. Provisions & water. Of water we had obtain” about two
hundred gallons. I bus finding Preparations Completed and getting our Observation at
noon, [we] were prepared for a Start.

We find by Observation that the wreck has Still been acted upon by a Strong WNW
Current, and that during the night We have Crossed the Equator. How Strange that we
have received no Visit from Neptune, but I fancy he is like the Rest of us On those points,
Courts luxury and Shuns Misery.

Our Lattitude By Observation at Noon Is= 00^ 13 m North
Longitude 120^:00 m West.

November 23 . We now having Everey thing in Readiness at thirty minutes past
■2= C ast off our lines from the Ill-fated Essex and Set all Sails. Our Boats, which we have
Rig, as Schooners, makes a very handsome Show on this Our first Start. But now how
(.hanged Our feeling from yesterday. Now for the first time did the horrors of our Situ¬
ation fall fully belore us. Now It was that we Could Realize the Slender thread upon which
Our lives were hung. Now Could be Seen the pale and wan features, the Wild and Vacant
Stare thrown upon Each Other. And, Ever and Anon, turning to View the fast Receding
Remnant of the hulk which had borne us So gracefully Over the bosom of the Ocean—As
though It were yet possible that She Could Relieve us from the fate that Seemed to await
us. Untill at last It Sunk from our View beneath the horizon.

It now Seemed to us that all had been Relieved from a Spell by which we had been
bound and Every Countenance] lit up as Each Involuntaryly utter d ; “Farewell, Farewell.”

Very Soon all resumed their natural Cheerfulness, and now, that our Minds were
made up for the worst, half the Struggle was over. The wind bv this time began to freshen
and the Sea to run very high and Irregular which Com pell” us to reduce our Sails by
Reefing. Through the night the wind Increased to a gale. The Sea making a Continued

breach over us, Kept us Constantly wet through the Skin, wetting and Injureing Our little
Stock of Provisions. Add to this Our boat had Sprung a leak. So rapidly as to Keep one
hand Constantly bailing out the water.

Toward s noon the wind had abated and the Sea became more Smoothe. The Sun also
Shone Out pleasantly, giving us an Opportunity to dry Our wet Clothing. We find by ob¬
servation that we have made, Since leaving the wreck, Seventy-One miles to the South, giv¬
ing us New hopes, having recross^ the Equator.

Lattitude By Obs n = 00^:58 m = South

November 11 24 1 ^. The Wind has again arisen and the Sea BreaKs very high. And
Our Situation begins to be truly uncomfortable. The Sea Constantly breaKing Into the
boats maKes the prospect of preserving our little StocK of provisions less and less prob¬
able. At 1. PM a heavey Sea broKe Into Our boat filling It half full of water, and Entirely
Saturating our StocK of bread with Salt water. The bread being our only dependence gave
to us on the whole rather a Cheerless prospect. But with perseverance In attending to It,
and Constant Spreading and drying when the Weather would prermit. Saved It from utter
ruin.

We this day arranged our allowance of food and water, and gave it out for the first
time. It Consisted for the present In one Cake of biscuit and a pint Of Water to Each
man for the 24 hours.—During the night the wind and Sea Still Continued; and, as we
were Constantly wet, left us no possibility of Repose. In the morning we found that the
Captain s boat had met with the Same misfortune as Ourselves having had his bread also
well SoaKed. This day being very Rugged and the Spray Continually flying to all parts
of the boat renders It utterly Impossible to Obtain an Observation —

November 11 25* . The wind has not abated In the least, and although a good Com¬
fortable Ship to be here, would Consider this No More than what the would Choose to
Call a good Strong trade Wind. Yet to us. In our Crippled State, It answers the purpose
of a gale, and Keeps us Constantly wet and Chilled through. We were Suddenly allarmed
to day by Our boat Springing a new leaK.

We Immediately tore up the Ceiling of the boat, in Search for the leak, when we dis¬
cover In the bow that one of the wood Ends had bursted Off and the water rushing In
with great rapidity as the wound lay below the Surface of the Sea. It required no little
Ingenuity to Come at it on the Out Side and make the repairs necessary. We first hove
the boat upon I he Opposite tack, thus bringing the leak as near to the waters Edge as
possible. And by placing the men all on the leward Side we thus were enabled to make
Our repairs much Easier than we had anticipated.

This little Incident, although It may Seem Small, was Capable of Causing amongst us
the greatest Escitement. It Seemed to Show to us In how frail a bark lay all our hope of
Safety. And plainly too, Could we trace the hand of providence. For, had we not have
Saved by mere accident a Small handfull of nails, the Writer would probably have adorned
a tale rather than told it. This Spread a gloom Over Our little Company not Easily Effaced.
This Evening we had Prayers and a few hymns Sung by a pious old Colour^ man named
Richard Peterson, which for a time drew our minds from Our present Miseries to Seek
deliverance from a higher power.

Again we are without Observation from the Effects of bad weather.

November ' 1 26* . We are now favour* 1 with Some little abatement In the Wind but
the Sea Is high and Irregular. We are Enabled however to Spread out our wet bread
around the boat and therby Save It from total destruction. We have also been Enabled
to Set all Sails again upon the boats. We have been pleased to See the Wind had hauled
to East North East thereby giving us a more favourable Course, and again the faces around
begin to wear a more Cheerful aspect.

November * 27-". The Sea hs become Something mo«
again Veered to East, Caused the boats to h «d off to 5 ^ g ospect G f

Current running to the westward at all tunes ,* *o*Se,as,^ ^ J

making but Slow progress to the Sou* A ^ § and the Wind has again hauled

November the 28*. Our prospects St.ll untavouraD. ^ Wind has Increased

to S.East which again drives us to the Sou awfully dark and tern-

Causing us ,o reduce Our Sails We, however. by Com

pesteous, and we very much fear /,he^aDtain and Officers, Kept the boats togather

^ irneX° n g t rj: ,he Cap.ains boa, ,n ,e Middle.

boat. We listned for a moment, and Could ly ^ ^ ^ Qwn We , of Course,

ond Mate for Assistance, whose boat was the matter, he replied, “I

made all possible haste towards him. And on Enquiry' what^ ^ ^ ^

have been attacked by Some Sort o ’ J d th g m from ascertaining What Sort of

The Extreme darkness of the night p ^ b Known by the name of thresher

fish It had been, but we believe It to Remain d and p i a yed around the boat for a

Or as the whalemen Call them, a Kil • disappear®. It Seemed to have been

few Minu.es as If .0 renew .he MUml.hu, C,natty punthes lhe Sid e wi.h

twelve to Sixteen feet in length. g But he had made a large

•JE X iXb :S - p— - ” h - ~

% U 1k Ou. an .heir pr„v,sio„ * £«

again gelling wel and gave ihenj “ ^ Press ing the broken boards back 10 ihe.r

ress. We now found that our Scanty a ^ This proba bly arose from having

ing thirsts, and the torture became a PI the Sun. Still we dare-

Ea g ten of the bread, So recently ^Kedj.t^Salt watery Qur Journey . Nor

not to Increase Our Allowance > w()U , d End We therfore were resolved to Endure

astng^^urarnam'r/andd hold Out, with the hope that Some means of relief would

* ^November 1

high Sea Causing our boa and c Complains Of a general weakness

own boat In particu ar b g ^ ^ bome we WO uld not feel Safe to go ten

throughout the Whole nme ^ 5] Y es, home . Reach me my allowance of bread. Bill,

S«m h e er panaKe‘ “b. UhinkTha. ! have a home. 1. may go far,her and nourish be,-

< er -” . . . , has an Excellent doctor In the Mate. He being an active and Ingenious

Our old to* . ss wherb he Can add a nail by Way Of Strengthening.

Man Wehave to day a Shoal of Dolphins, playing around us. And In the hope and Ex-
We ha I “ “ y o them we have made fishing lines, and made use of all our

pec,a,ion of Caleb,„g Come'on imard. Bu. a« Effom have

ihiled^They 0 Conunue ,0 Swim around us Seemingly as .enacious Of ,heir Exis,ance as

Ourselves. The Weather now wears a milder aspect. And although Our progress has been
Slow, our Men are more Cheerful.

November 30 1 * 1 . We are now Cheered with Serene and beautiful weather and Our
Evenings are Cheered by Divine Service headed by the aforementiond negro Peterson. In¬
deed, his Conduct on those occasions Would do honor to a Chaplain. We have this day
Kill (1 One of Our terrapins, Of which we had two. All Seemed quite Impatient of an op¬
portunity to drink the warm blood as It Came Oozing from the wound of the Sacrificed
animal.

Although the Cravings of hunger upon our Stomachs was most Acute, yet Some there
were who revolted at Sight Of the blood, nor Could they Make up their Mind to taste It.
We divided about one gill to those who wished it, and Cooked the meat, dividing It Equally
with all, of Which we Made a delicious Meal, not rejecting the Entrails. After which Our
Men Seemed greatly refreshed. And It gave to all an Increase of Spirits and Cheerfulness.
We find by our Observation this day that we have made about five hundred miles On Our
Way.

And Our Observed Lattitude Is 7 .53 m . South

December 1 st & 2 nc *. We had nothing Very Remarkable on those days. Save that
the Weather has been Very fine, and our boats have Kept Well togather. The Wind too,
haul 01 to North East and we are Making well on our course. There Seems amongst us a
degree of repose and Carelessness, Scarcely to be looked for amid persons In Our forlorn
and hopeless Situation.

December 11 3. The first part Of this day and Evening were very pleasant. Attended
our usual prayer Meeting. But the Sky became Suddenly Overcast, and the night very
dark, Making It Very difficult to See the boats and Keep Each others position. At ten
O’clock we very Suddenly Miss ( the boat Of the Second Mate, and we were Alarmed at
So Sudden disappearance lest Something had destroyed them. We however Struck a light,
and on hoisting It to the mast head Of the boat, to our great Joy Saw It answerd by the
Missing boat a Short distance to the Leward Of us. Ever after this We found It very dif¬
ficult to Keep Our boats togather owing to the darKness Of the nights. Much time was
lost In looKing Each Other up, being Compell^ Sometimes to tack frequently during the
Search. But for all that, none were willing to Separate for It Is well Known that Misery
loves Company.

December ^ 4 t ^ 1 . Nothing Worthy of Note.

December 11 5 1 . This Day We have a Strong S.East Wind, with very thick and dark
Weather Which Continued through the Night.—During this night We were Seperated
from the Other boats for a time. But, after having fired Our Pistols a few times, we again
got togather and Steered along On Our Way.

December 6*^ and 7. The Winds blew very Strong, and More unfavourable. And
Our boats leaKing badly frequently taKing onboard large quantities Of water. Keeping
One hand Constantly at work bailing It Out. And they Suffered Very Much from being
Constantly Wet.

December the 8°^. This day the Wind has hauled to East South East, with torrents
of rain falling, and at Midnight had Increased to an AWful gale with a frightful Sea, which
Seems to threaten Our total Anihilation. We had Kept gradually Reducing Our Sails as
the Wind had Increased untill we were Compell^ to StriKe Our Masts, also, the boats lay¬
ing to Very badly. Every Sea Seemed to threaten Our destruction. But having done all In
Our power, we threw ourselves down In the bottom Of the boat to await the fate of Sailors
as became men, and trusting In Our Maker to dispose Of us as Seemed best In his Sight.

The SKy was blackened past Conception to those who have not witness 0 ^ the Same.
The Constant and Vivid lightning Seemed to Envelope us In a fearful blaze, and the awful

thunder of an Angry Element threatened Evety Moment Our final

but an overruling hand of a Creator Could taw W o„^ tarks^na.^ ^ ^
b^n d m autand r»pin Step^Our Masts, and go. the boats head to the South-

It was abating nature Seemed to give way. An providentially Kept to-

down .ha, they Could be on were once more near

gather during the gale wtth,out a'"^ rt wi ,h Each Other s presence.

Each Other, to make a fresh Start and be cnee Enabled to Set

December the A A. Noon the g k had So^ far M «-> »» s , ow|y along .

all Sails upon the boats, but the Sea being VS ^ to Keep One hand Con-
Our boat too had Started a res ea ^ ^ Water . B y Our Meridian Observation this

stantly at work to bail the boat t K P Society Islands directly to

day We Were In the LatUtude 17 40 South nay, g Qf u& were ln the In .

leeward and ^ V* Qf Course Could have landed probably in

five^r Six ^lays^at^artherest. Safely with them Instead Of

I presume the Enquiry will now arise y j. _ w hich to any reasonable

attempting the dangerous Voyage to t e is ' unSeaworthy boats? In

Mind Must appear almost Impossible » atumm Somewhere, which

answer I Can only Say there was gross Ignorance or a great g

Cost many a fine the Weat her Seemed Something more favourable,

December the 10 . The wi ..Hvanred Since having left the Wreck, Our

and we were maKing fair P r «gy ess as 1 . () appe tites more importunate and had

bodies had become More and More ^^Swance Of Bread. But a litle

Increased In us a desire to So lcit an a WO uld be unmanly and useless,

reflection Convinced us That an Slept at the door Of the bread

For the Mate had taken the been made by himself

asTthTL’nner of allowance. , think nothing but violence to his pemon Could have In-

dUC T„ h h?s SnaTenti™ to this, as well as Keeping Up a degree Of discipline, 1 think

tnay be attributed Our ultimate through a Small Shoal Of (lying

Whilst Sailing along On Our Course tms y ^ ^ t the Sails and fel , lnto the

fish. Four of them In ^ir E Exdte P m ent this created among Our little Company,

boat. It was quite laughable to S were devouI -d as S oon as Caught and, without

^rdTo Cleansing ortoKing, were insider-* as a dainty Morsel, but Of Course did

not go far I HIIHng an ^^[’Xwinds with frequent Calms, and Our progresj

Det th v ’ ci ow We Kill” Our last Remaining Terrapin which again fill

In Consequence was Ve y - . . Weather was very hot. And having no means

Of'screenirtg^omselves^from Id piercing Rays, Our Suffering became Most Intolerable

as Our Sh “^, 3 th 0 weThii’da7we r re W agata favUr“w 8 ith a light breeze frojn the northward.
Tbis^e us new hopes of dLive^ for we now gp-

by r^SrSTSl ‘, hiS T d , dlCd £ raduaU >' away Iff 6 al "«>" «* Succeeded
y a total Calm. This Calm Continued through the 14 to 16 th Dec r Inclusive

During this trying State of Affairs the mate proposed reducing Our Allowance Of nro

Visions „„e halfwhite the Calm, Condnued. All'suLtted with foreran e and fo” ifuX

o thu« dec,s,on. And, as Our Stock Of water was about Equal with Our food 1 wat

thought proper not to alter It. Indeed we Could no, have reduced Our allowance of wattr

for already we had not Sufficient to Keep our mouths In moisture. We frequently applied

Salt water Our parched lips with the hope to quell the fever tha, RagedThe e Rm that

Sr „wr u Hne °" ■“"* 50 mUCh ,ha ' S ° , " e SeeK ReheM„

t rh? U K Suffer .' n S s during these hot days almost Exceed belief, and the heart again bleeds
t the bare recital. Some of the men were Induced to hang themselves Over the Side of

we're^uabfcd ‘to'ha'ui Lm°' > 'l A "l' " was wi,h ,he u,most difficulty that they
e enabled to haul themselves again Into the boat through debility and weakness

This day our boat Continued to leaK badly, and on Searching we found the leaK In

to mTt thTt o garl Tl rd ? reak ° f th<? b0at ' T ° Remed y It was absolutely nee asa "
to get at the bottom of the boat as the Only means of doing this. Our boat stearer Ben

jamm Lawrence volunteer^ to tie a rope fast to his waist and with a hatc^e InZndZ

cend under the boat and Clench the nails as they were driven through from theTnside

C^^!y g tiS, e t P m ° re C,OSdy t0gather ‘ THUS ag3in ° Ur Craz y bo - 1 -s render**

tained'lL^ur boarL^T ° bservati ° n 21:42 South By this observation we ascer-

lcd that our boats had been driven ten miles directly Out Of Our Course to the North

ward by the Current and Swell, Which Served again to Arouse us to a Sense of Our lrn'
mment danger and Strongly demanded Some Mitigating Expedient.

Chapter Eight

‘There Is Land!”—Arrival at Elizabeth or Henderson Island.

Captain Pollard now made to us a proposition which was agreed to by all. This was
to take a double allowance of bread and water and commence rowing our boats to the
Southward, with the hopes that by changing our position a few miles might be the means
of obtaining a more favorable breeze of wind.

When the Sun had gone down, We Man ( * Our Oars and Commenced to perform Our
laborious Occupation. But Our late privations had So far Reduced Our Strength, that a
few hours Sufficed and proved to us the utter Impossibility of maKing farther progress
by this means. It was given Over Accordingly, and we again threw Ourselves upon the
Chances Of Catching a breeze of wind for a further advancment.

Dec. 17^. With the Sunrise this Morning a breeze Sprung up from the SE and al¬
though directly ahead was welcomed by all with feelings Of grattitude and joy.

Dec. 18 th . The breeze Continued to Increase vearing from SE to ESE. and by Mid¬
night had increased to a gale. And we were Compell (1 to Reduce Our Sails and heave the
boat too, being again driven to leeward widely from Our Course.

Dec. 19^. The weather again moderated So as to Admit of Setting all Sails upon the
boats and Soon again the elements became tranquil and the weather once more moderate
and pleasant.

Dcember 20 1 * 1 . The night having been Something Squally with the Showers Of Rain
falling frequent Caused us to Rest very uncomfortably. But as the day was followed by
Such joyful Prospects that the gloom Of the past Night was Entirely dispell^. At Seven
Oclock this Morning Whilst we were Sitting in the bottom of Our little boat quite Silent
and dejected, one Of Our Companions named William Wright on Rising to Stretch his
limbs, Casting his Eyes along the horizon. Cried Out Suddenly, “There Is land.”

We were all up In an Instant. And, Stretching our Eyes to the leeward, Could dis¬
tinctly See that It was no visionary delusion but In Reality Land, Ho,” as described. All
Seemed to be reanimated and Instantly to posess a new existance. The first appearence
of the Island was that of a low White Sand beach Spread along the horizon before us.
And Each Man Seemed to greet It as a final end to his long Confinement and Sufferings.

We remain^ hove too In Order to get the boats to Come togather when, after a Short
deliberation of Cap 1 and officers, the boats were Steer d toward this new land of promise.
Never has my Eyes rested on anything So pleasingly beautiful (Save the one whose name
is not in these Pages) as did this little Island at this moment appear. We might Indeed
maKe Some feeble attempt to describe to the Reader our feelings upon this Occasion but
on the whole Could but faintly Succeed In the picture and Indeed would give but a Sorry
delinaeation. Fear, grattitude. Surprise and expectation held momentary posesion of us,
forming new Impulse to Our Exertions.

This Island was to all appearance about Six miles long and three broad with Steep
and Rugged Cliffs and high perpendicular Rocks, whilst Its Shores was Surrounded On
all Sides by Shelving Rocks a little beneath the Surface of the Sea. At about one hundred
yards from the Shore over which the Sea Is Constantly breaking, the top Of the Island
looked green and beautiful being Cover^ with trees and underbrush. The numerous
Swarms of Sea birds that Surrounded the Shores gave to us proof that the Island was un¬
inhabited, and was a great relief to Our Minds. For In our present State we Could have
Made but feeble Resistance to an Attack from Natives had the Island proved Inhabited.
And to have again put to Sea without having Effected a landing Would have been Sen-

was

the

ans

3ur
at a
ress
the

1 al-

Viid-
■ the

i the
?rate

Rain
d by
even
iilent
h his

l dis-
1. All
rence
e us.
igs.
Short
>mise.
name
ideed
n but
Sorry
of us.

Steep
?d On
ndred
Island
lerous
as un-
i have
abited.
n Sen-

tence of Death to Each Man In Our then Exhausted State as regards Water. For no quan¬
tity however Reduced Could have Made It hold out to any Known land.

We at first mistook this Island for Ducie’s Island judging from Our Observation of
the Day previous but it Subsequently proved to be [an] Island discover** by Cap 1 H. King
of the whaling Ship Elizabeth Of London, Some twelve Or fifteen months preveous to Our
visiting It, to which he gave the name of Elizabeth’s Island In Memory Of his Ship. This
Island lies Seventy miles distant to the West of Ducies and In the Same degree of Lattitude
viz 24.40 South 125.50 west Long. We now Saild along the Shore at about one hundred
yards distant, and frequently firing a Pistol as we glided past Some valley or nook In the
woods to arouse its Inhabitants Should there be any within hearing. But neither friend nor
foe appear’d.

At length, being about the Centre of the Island On the leeward Side and finding a
Sort of bend in the Shore, this Seemed the most promising position we had Seen to maKe
an attempt to land with Our boats. We Came to a halt, and it was agreed upon to land
some few Of the party preveous to landing with the boats, therby Securing to us a Retreat,
In Case we Should unexpectedly find Savages In Ambush. But all delay and Caution
proved of no use to us, as the Island proved unpeopled.

The Chief Mate with three Seamen having armed themselves Soon Effected a landing
and made a Short Excursion Into the bush. When finding themselves much Exhausted by
this little Exercise through debility and want of Exercise In the boats, they were Compelld
to lay down upon the greenSward for refreshment. They Soon Struck off Into the woods
to reconnoitre and Kept a good looK Out for a Spring of Water.

The Mate having Occasion to Cross an Inlet of the Sea, discoverd a fish of about one
foot and a half In length Swimming near him. . . . [H]e Struck him with the butt of his
gun which Crippled the fish So that he Swam under a Shelving Rock near the Shore from
Whence he was easily taken by aid of his ramrod and quickly devour’d by the little
Scouting party. After their Repast, finding themselves refreshed, they Set Off Over the

hills.

They Started much Refreshed and In good Spirit, occasionally Scaling Some perpen¬
dicular Cliff at the Expence Of torn hands and at the imminent peril of their necks. But
all in Vain for not the least Moisture Could be Seen to Ooze from the hills nor Rocks after
the most diligent Search. As the tide was rising Rapidly they were Compell d to give Over
the Search and Return to the boats.

When they Returned and made Report, It was Agreed to land and haul the boats
upon the green under the woods. We then turned them bottom upwards thus forming a
protection from the night dews or Rain under which we Could Sleep Comfortably and
Enjoy dreams Of home and friends, which most of our wretched Shipmates were never
to Realize.

December th 21 st . After Enjoying a good night’s Sleep, we awoke In the Morning
finding Ourselves greatly Refreshed and quite able to Start about the Island and Renew
the Search for the article of water of which became now Of Vital Importance to Obtain.
This now Seem d to be Our Chief desire as Our Very lives were Involved In the Issue.

Our Men now Scatter** Over the Hills In Every direction and traversed the Inmost
Recesses of the forest and Over those lonely hills but in vain, for after the most diligent
Search no water Could be discoverd. And at night fall we were Compell to return Sor¬
rowing and dejected to Our little town of boats In the valley.

During the day One Of Our Men, having Chosen a walK along the Sea Shore In the
Search, Chanced to See a Sort Of Moisture Issue from a RocK and Clay hillocK. The mate
taKing a Chisel and hammer repair** Speedyly to the place and Commen C( to peck Into
the RocK but without any farther prospect for getting water, He was Compell* 1 to give
over and Return to the Village.

, , S,n “ °^ r absence durin g the da y Our Captain and Steward had not been Idle They

had gather a large number of land Crabs with which this Island abounds; and having

f° s aS £ d lhem u P° n the Coa,s togather with a few birds which they had Caught formed
dful'Treen^ 3 Re P ast ‘ Here Eve "7 One Seated himself upon the beau-

no quet was Ever Enjoyed with greater gusto or gave

But we were Soon Call d to Our Senses, for we were yet without water. And Our al-

™ a * S ° Smal1 that our h P s became parched and feverish and were quite Swollen
and Cracked. And we were now Compell d to Reduce Even Our present Scanty Allowance

f n C T " 0t t0 fmd d atCr ’ h ° W were we to Survive to again Cross Such an Extent
of Ocean that as yet Roll between Our Island home and a place of probable delivery

We found at th,s place a Sort Of Pepper Grass which was not unpleasant m the taste which
after Chewing produced a Slight moisture In Ones Mouth by which In Some degree our

In ^luch l ^‘ rSt WaS a ' lev,ated This however only Remaind Whilst Chewing It and left us
In much the Same State as when we Commenc d to Chew it.

D. W ^/° Und her ^ 3 large gea blrd T.all d by Seamen boatswains, but more properly Tropic
Birds. They were about the Size of a hen. They are entirely white having two long feathS

feX«Wwhat e r ^7 T hiCH thC name ° f Boatswain was ‘hem, as those two

linesDiKe^r R ? semb,e that v «7 useful Instrument to the Boatswain viz the Mar-

hev CameTn fl T f ^ “ abundanCe for we had Only to await untill Nightfall, when
hey Came In fl<x:ks from Sea to Roost and feed their young, when we Could Pounce upon

them with a SticK and taKe them without difficulty. And we by this means Kept Our mbie
Supplied Without Difficulty during Our Stay. P

. • . ThC ? WaSa ' S ° at this P ,ace a SP 60 * 65 of Sea Fowl Call d the Man-of-War hawK This

of nir Cd F° a S rd US a , great dea ‘ ° f Amuseme nt In watching them during their hours
of P irac T For being too lazy to go off to Sea during the day In quest of food they would
hover about Over the trees untill the hours for the tropic birds to return tot bS young

wkh ^he m S ^ thdr I 006 ' This bird wou,d P° unce upon them and

beat them with the wings, Clinging to the back Of the tropic bird with their beak fthe

lowd°du^Th' w h tbe V° dr ° P thC Fish and ° ft entime Vomit what they had kwal-

' hey W ° Uld “>*>" ,l - % "«* '"-ng r .he y o„ng

fail wSh ad m° W de u id ? C ! t ° J try ° ne m ° re day In Search ° f water. And Should we yet

OurTktle WK “and S H o j m ° re de ' ay ‘ F ° r Every hour now lost was decreasing
Our little St^K and Served to Render Our destruction More Sure.

7 CC J 2 ; A / ter the Slumbers Of an Other Night we arroused to a Sense Of Our

atrent!° n ^ agam ° ff In d,fferent directions In Search of food and Water Our

his hands"w arr h CSted by See,n g ° ne Man near the beach Run, Carrying a Small Keg In

Ran t" them Jh TP J °" Seefa « this ’ water to bave been found,

the te h O,! Y PPTT th3t 3 Spring ° f fresh water had been found on

° J y T unbounded on Receiving this new Intelligence, and We Ran In
breathless anxiety to the Spot. Here In the providence of God had been provided for us
a Spring, Indeed Most Miraculously presented at the latest Moment, of pure fresh water
It arose through a Small hole In a flat RocK, over which the tide arose Sveral feet at
0 ' gb Wate . r ’ and C ? u,d on,y be Come at but half an hour during low tide, being quite

" ;!;r; s of the day After fii,ing the sman ^ E ~h o ne g sz

g himself to a good drmK, we now lost no time but tended Strictly by night and day

^ n “ a " ° Ur VeS “' S Capabk ° f Water to taKe

w„h We now began, to Concetve different notion. In Regard On? Situation.

as lone as w! ^ a “ ‘ h “ t olima '" ° f Water We believed that we Could Remain

g We pleased upon the Island and always find Means Of getting water from the

Spring believing that the tide would always recede below the Spring. This I have Since
learned was not the fact, for I have Since Seen Seth Weeks, of Barnstable, who was
One Of Our number who Chose to Remain upon the Island. Mr. Weeks stated that, dur¬
ing a Stay of Nine Months Or More afterwards, they Could never get water from the
Spring after our boats left the Island although they Could at low tide plainly See the
Spring bubling beneath the Sea. But In no Instance afterward was It left dry.

We next fell too Repairing Our Boats and Preparing Ourselves for the next perilous
Enterprise. We nail d Our boats as well as It was possible to do, with the Small quantity
Of boat nails In our posession, In Order to prepare them to Stand against the boisterous
Elements which we were again probable to Encounter.

Dec th 23 d . The day was Chiefly Occupied by Scouting the hills and woods, with a
hope to find Somthing to Replenish our StocK Of provisions, but Could find nothing on
which to rely. We Could Indeed Catch a few Sea fowls which Served us for present food,
but Even these being so Constantly harrass d began to forsaKe the Island.

Dec 24This day was Spent In persuit of game Or Vegetable Without Success
as before. We found a bastard pine apple growing on trees which at first Sight lookd
tempting but we Soon found them not Edible, being hard as flint.

December ^ 25*^. We found after this days Search for provisions there had not been
enough Obtain* to Repay us Or warrant Our longer Stay at this place, and began again
to thinK Of launching our frail boats upon the Mighty deep. For it Occurrd to us that
we Ought not to remain longer than we Could Obtain a full Supply for Our daily Wants.
For Should we Resort to Our former Sea Stock we Should greatly diminish the probability
Of a Successful termination to Our protracted Voyage.

The Cap 1 Call** togather his Officers and after a Short Consultation It was agreed
upon that We Should leave Soon as possible and make for Easter Island. We Knew it to
be Inhabited, and lay very near Our track, but believed the Inhabitants to be Savages. This
Island was visited by the Celebrated Captain Cook. It bore from this Island.ESE. and Is
In Lattitude 27.09 South and In 109:35 West Longitude.

Suffice It that we only Knew that Such an Island Existed, but Of the nature Of Its
Soil Or productions we Knew nothing. At any Rate It was a thousand miles nearer to the
land of our hopes. And Should we get there In Safety, we Might perhaps obtain Some
little Stock in addition to Our provisions and Enable us to go On Our Way.

Dec 1 th 26 th . We Employed Ourselves this day wholly to maKing preparations for our
departure. Our Village was demolished and our boats moored near the Spring. All Casks,
tubs and bucKets &c were quite fill* with water. All hands were Call** togather for a last
talK preveous to taKing a final departure.

At this time, and On the Very Eve of moving the boats, three Of Our Number Came
forward and declared their Intentions Of Remaining upon the Island. As the plan favourd
the whole party, of Course no One objected to the proposals. We assured them that Should
any One Of us Survive, and get to a Civilized Country again, Our first Care Should be
to make Every Exertion In Our Power for their Speedy Relief which we faithfully Kept.
Their names were William Wright and Seth Weeks of Barnstable, Mass., U.S.A. and
Thomas Chappel of Plymouth, England.*

We gave up to them every Small article that We Could part with and Could be Of
Service to them; and they were determined to build them a Comfortable dwelling Soon

♦These men were eventually rescued by the brig Surry, Captain Raine, who was paid $430 by Commodore
Ridgely, of the U.S. frigate Consellation, to stop at Henderson (thought to be Ducie’s Island) and pick up the
men there. Captain Raine was on a voyage from Valparaiso to Sydney, Australia. See Chapter 10.

as possible. The Cap* wrote Several letters, which he enclosed In a tin box and left Sus¬
pended to a Tree on the west Side of the Island near the landing place, with the hope
(that In Case those Men Should Die and Ourselves nomore be Seen) that Some more for¬
tunate Mariner Visiting this Secluded Spot Might perchance Convey this last Sad Relic to
Our Mourning friends, Informing them Of Our hapless fate.

On Our first landing at this place we found Cut On the trunK Of a tree the name
of the Ship Elizabeth of London, Cap* H. King, who had been the discoverer Of this Island
as before mentioned.

Dec * h 27 th [1820.] This day at 10 O clock, the tide having risen Sufficiently to take
the boats over the Reef, we Embarked, Set Our Sails and, when on the Eve Of departure,
discoverd that Our absent Companions had not Come down to the beach to See us depart.
And we left without again Seeing them.

We Sailed around the Northwest Side of the Island and Saw a fine White Sand beach
On Which we Expected we Could land In Safety with Our boats. But On Coming near
found this also guarded with a Reef So as to prevent the boats from passing Over it. We
Came Near Enough to a projecting headland and Sent on Shore Several Men.

Whilst they were Reconnoitering On Shore, we Shoved Our boats off and tried Our
lucK for Fish. We Caught Several Small Fish and Saw many SharKs; but, as they would
not bit at our hooK, Of Course they were not for Our Net. We thus Occupied Our time
until about Six Oclock In the Evening, when the hunters Returned from the Shore having
Caught but few birds of little Consequence.

We again Set Sail, finally to leave this land which had been So providentially thrown
In Our way.

Chapter Nine

Again The Open Sea—Days of Danger, Dispair And Death—and Survival.

We had a pleasant breeze from the Northwest throughout the night, which permitted
us to Sail directly upon our Course. As we lost sight of the receding Land we were much
more Cheerful than could have been expected under Existing Cicumstances. As the day
wore on, we received our Scanty Pittance of food and water, which was barely Sufficient
to Sustain our lives.

The wind continuing, we made good progress until December 30th. At this time the
wind hauled to the ESE, and of course was directly ahead. This continued for Several Days
without material Change, but the wind came again to the North and this enabled us to
persue a Direct Course. Thus, we made a tolerable progress until January 3rd [1821].

We were now beginning to Experience hard weather. The Wind had changed to
WSW, with hard Squalls, which, although making it difficult to manage our frail craft, Stll
permitted us to keep on our course. The seas had become so Rough that we we were fear¬
ful that each Successive gust would Swamp our Boats. We knew it was Not possible if the
Conditions prevailed that such tender Vessels cold Long Sustain themselves amid such Se¬
vere and Repeated shocks much Longer.

It would be nearly Impossible to attempt to Describe our Sensations at this Time.
Every Squall was attended with the most Vivid flashes of lightning and awful Thunder
caps, which Seemed to Cause the very bosom of the Deep to tremble and threw a cheerless
Aspect upon the face of the Ocean.

January 4th. The Mate had kept a sort of Reckoning since our leaving of Elizabeth
Island, by which we now fully realized that we had passed far to the Southward of the
recorded Position of Easter Island. The Wind at this time had now changed to the ENE
and Seem’d liKely to Continue from that quarter, So as to prevent Our reaching up to
that Island. All our Fowls and fish being Now Expended, we were now wholly dependant
upon Our Small Stock of the Original provisions, which Consisted of dry bread alone. And
Even that allowance must Soon be reduced. It was deem^ provident to turn Our Minds
toward Some other Expedient for Our final Safety.

Thus, We gave up as hopeless the Idea of Reaching Easter Island, and Steered nearly
as possible towards the Islands Juan Fernandez and Massafuero upon the Coast of Chili.
They bore ESE. from us and were at this time distant twenty-five hundred miles. The
Wind Continued to blow very lightly from the East and Our Sufferings were Intense from
the Excessive heat of the Sun.

January 7 1 ^. This day Our Wind Changed to the northward, and we made good prog¬
ress on our proper Course. At noon we found by our observation that we Were In Lat-
titude 30:18 South and by our ac* were in Longitude 117:29 West.

Jany 10 th . We have the wind yet fair but Very light with a Smooth Sea. Our Second
Officer this day Complaind Of being quite Unwell and Express^ a desire to be Removed
to the Captains boat. After his Removal, and having Spent part of the day there, finding
himself getting worse, Express^ a wish to be again Removed to his own boat. After this
was done, he Shortly died without a Struggle. His End was hastened without doubt by the
Exercise In the removal, Owing to his Extreme debility. His loss threw a gloom Over us
Not Easily Effaced.

Jany 11 1 * 1 . We this Morning buried the Remains of Our deceased Officer In the deep
blue Sea, as dcently as Our wretched Circumstances would admit of, breathing a Silent
prayer for the future. The boat was placed under Command of his own boatstearer, Obed
HendricKs. This done we again resumed Our precarious Way.

6/tarf of the South 'Pacific shomutg the track tflhe boats of the vhatohip ~£*sex, sunk by a ufah.ctfotr. 20, /620

Jany 12 th . We had a light breaze In the Morning which by Night Increased to a gale
front the Northwest We were Compel to take In 111 Our Sa'ils Ld Keep tSe Lts^d"

neht y Co,^ re M e K Wm if" S ThC g3,e dr ° Ve US along Rapidly before It, and on Our
"jt C ,? . MaKlng thus good wa y- Even Without aid of the Sails. So that Our Situation
notwithstanding we were liable to have our boats upset by each Succeeding Wave did

dread ^dlis Sfo m ^"1 aldlough the dan 8 er was Very great, yet none Seemed to

tis ferrific^lTT “ 3 by Starvation. And I believe None would have Exchanged

this terrific gale for a more moderate head Wind or a Calm 8

The Rain fell in torrents and the flashes Of lightning were Most Vivid. We were ao-

fromTc'hOt 1 ’ r ,n h g thC E f reme darKness of the Ni gbt, Our boats would get astra^
from Each Other. In this our fearss were realized for at 1 1 Oclock, Our boat being ahead y

^thafvou Cotd e n Z" P , “ pan j° nS was Rai " in g Very hard at this time, So much

^r aIh r ‘ ^ h r ^ r u C d,StanCC ° f f,fty yards fr ° m the »«*• We hove

our boat too And Rema.nd about an hour, Expecting them to Corfie up with us. When

■ r> ee, ? g 1 p m . a g a,n Kept on Our Course. As Soon as daylight appeard Every Man
In Our boat Raised themselves searching the waters, untill their Eyes giSv dim whh the

fri ' nds - ,n ihis - -

CurJ|S o7we7h™ °% Ex ™ inin * ° uf b "« k '“ k « .hat Our allowance Must be again
Curtail Or we Should Soon have nothing left. Our debility Increased Rapidly by not leav-

'thl boat drive S oIff ,en M Stren h 8th ^ d ° ^ necessary duties ° f ° ur boat. And Often would
he boat drive On for Many hours togather without Our Sails being Set. We again reduced

he Allowance to One Ounce Of break pr. day. Our water bearing a large proponSon to
Man br R ad o' Ve oK “* " d neCCSSary to Reduce > which was the fourth of a P pint to Each
gitude by acLunITSSo Wes!" ** ^ *" ** 32:16 50111,1 and ^

Much Of the time Since Our Seperation we have been depressd with Melancholy Re-

tt^ lTrepa n rabir^eir gS ‘ ^ had ,OSl Much In the ,oss Of Our Companions and this loss

^i fote tt Jinr, PreSenCe d ° ne MUCh l ° aHeviate 31 leaSt ° ur Mental digress.
Iheir late too being to us quite uncertain, Caused a double Anxiety. They might for

ought we Could Know have founder’d during that awful Night, and OurselvesV the

this vas^extent Of Ocemf ™ "" 31 A " y Mo "™ SklR ^nelth

ms vast extent Of Ocean, leaving Scarcly a momentary buble to marK the Spot or tell that

de e s^ n H ^ f ^ , RefleCti ° nS Rushing ° Ver ° ur WeaKend Minds th^l"s Into a
despondency which Could not be Easily Shaken off.

and iZ nlr ' T Z an ° ther SqUaHy day with Constant Rain. Our Spirits flag

2"**? Already debilitated Seem no longer able or Willing to Act In Concert With
the Mind^-We are now Nineteen days from the Island and have Only Made 2 distance
of Nine hundred Miles On Our Way. And having Compared Our provisfons whth Re-
rnams with the distance. Our hearts Seems to SinK within us. For without Some wonderful
nterposition Of Providence, Our Stock of provisions must be quite Exhausted long Ere

the r Ex°no rne H y S?" ^ ^ We Were -^ncing the most" Extreme Sufoeringsfoom

More feeble.- Y * ° f ** Su "’ 3nd ° Ur Wasted forms dail y g">wing More and

This night we had Some excitement from One Of Our Coulour d Men having Made
an a ttempt to taK e bread from Our little StocK that Remaind. But, a7the Snce of

glToM P M Veme ^ th V hCft ’ hC W3S 1Ct ° ff ’ Wkh ° nly a Se — Reprimand He was a

olaS,arved appeti “ &uld

January 15 .As we were Sailing along with a light breeze and pleasant weather but

rather a dark night, we were Suddenly attacKed at the Stern of Our Boat by a large
SharK. He made Several onsets at different parts of the boat In a ravenous Manner, fre¬
quently biting the End Of the Steering Oar. We Succeeded however at last in beating him
away with the Oars of the boat and a lance, nor did he appear afterwards.

Jany 16 1 ^. We had moderate breezes with pleasant weather and, passing through a
large Shoal of Porpoises, Attempted to Catch One with the harpoon, but Could not muster
Stregth Sufficient to pierce through their tough hide. And they Soon left us, appearantly
in high glee leaping from the water and apparently in full Exercise Of Every Enjoyment.
Poor devils how much they are now our Superiors and yet not to Know it.

Jany 18 . Up to this day we have had a Continuation Of Calms, and again Compell

to bear the torture Of a burning Sun, without power to protect Our bodies from Its
Scorching Rays, We now feel that we are Indeed miserable, and that, after all Our Efforts
to preserve life, we must Soon realize all the horrors of an untimely End. About eight Oc-
locK In the Evening being perfectly Calm, we were Suddenly Surrounded by a Shoal Of
Spermaciti whales. They Came foaming and thrashing past us In a most furious manner.
We were alarmed at this, and would fain have Taken to the Oars and Rowed the boats
away from those Intruders. Our men were too weaK to maKe the attempt, and we were
Soon Overjoyed to find they had pass d quite Clear of Our boat. . . . [W]e lay quietly and
Slept Soundly.

Jany 19 . We had Again to Encounter a Severe thunder Storm. This Caused us to

taKe In all Sails and lay the boat too. The weather Continued Very Changable and un¬
pleasant with Sudden gusts. The Reader who is not familiar with a Sea life will probably
thinK Strange that with those frequent Showers Of Rain we had Caught no fresh water.
To Such In answer, I would Say that we made frequent attempts to Catch water with Our
Sails Spread horizontally. But the boats were very low and the Sails were Constantly wet
with Salt water and Consequently fill d with Salt So as to Spoil All the fresh water that
fell.—And although we used frequently to Catch a pail full In a Shower, yet always found
It too Salt for use.

Jany 20 1 * 1 . This day we have the Wind More Moderate. But a Strong breeze from ENE
Is yet blowing. Causing a high Irregular Sea. We are however Enabled to Set Some little
additional Sail upon the boat. And although we Cannot Sail directly upon Our Course,
yet we are Making Very fair progress.

This day Richard Peterson, a Colour" Man and a native Of New york State, Com-
plain d Of general debility and low Spirits, declaring that he Could not Survive the day.
And Indeed his Symptoms did Indeed threaten a Speedy dissolution. He refused his al¬
lowance of food Saying “Keep It, It may be of Service to Some One but Can be Of none
to me.”

He Died without a Struggle. He was a man of about Sixty years Of Age. We believe
he Died a Christian, If frail Man Can deserve Such a name; thus laying before us the Sad
Spectacle which Each Of us must Very Soon Expect to display. We Committed his Remains
to the deep, breathing his Requiem In Silence.—Our Lattitude was this day by Observation
35:07 South and Longitude by ac l 105:46 West.

We Continued to Sail Slowly along, the wind prevailing to the Eastward untill

Jan 24 1 * 1 . when It again fell off to Calm. Our Minds were now fill 01 with the most
awful Conjectures as to the future. With Our provisions nearly Exhausted, Scarcely a hope
Remained for us to Cling to. All had SunK In Sullen Silence In the bottom Of the boat,
when Aroused by the Cheerful Voice Of the Mate. He again Wished to Remind us that
all hopes were not yet at an End, and that Our duty to Ourselves and to Each Other de¬
manded Our latest Exertion.—Even the Strong fortitude of this Remarkable Man Seemed
to Waver, but In no Instance did It finally forsake him, not to the day Of our delivery.

tly

it.

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ats

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During Our Intervals of Sleep often did Our fever 0 * Minds wander to the Side of
Some Richly Supplied Table groaning as it were under Its weight Of luxuries, and Often
to Some brooK Or Spring of delightful Water. Often have I awaKed in the Act Of placing
a draught to my lips, and burst Into Crying at the disappointment.

The wind again breezed up from the Eastward being again ahead, and we were Com¬
pel^ to Sail In an unfavourable direction. Nothing Could now Sustain us but a firm trust
In an almight Power. We were resolved now to act More liKe Consistent Men whilst life
yet Remaind to us. The wind Still Continued to blow from the Same quarter until

January 28 1 * 1 . This wind had driven Our boats as far South as the lattitude of 36:..
degrees Which was to us a Cold and Chilly Region. Our Suffering was Extreme having
nothing to Cover us from those piercing winds but wet and Cold Canvass which Even had

It been dry would have been but a poor Apology for Covering.—

The Wind this day Changed to the westward and we made the best Of It. We were
So feeble that We Could Scarcly Crawl about the boat upon Our hands and Knees. We
however managed to get Sufficient Sail upon the boat and again Made good progress Thus
It Continued until

Jany 31 st . When, again Changing to the Eastward, it threw us again Into despair.

February 1 st . The wind Changed again to the Westward but On the Feb. 2 n and Feb.
3°*, blew again from the Eastward blowing light and Variable.

Feb 8. Making very little progress. Suddenly One Of Our Crew named Isaac Cole
a native Of Rochester, Mass., became Ill and appear 0 * deranged. The weather during the
night had been very Squally and he had Over Exerted In managing the Sails without Cal¬
ling our assistance, as were trying to get Some little Rest and he wished not to disturb
them. This without doubt hasten 0 * his death.

He now became a Spectacle of madness. At 10 OclocK he became Speechless but being
In great agony groaned most piteously. He Expired at four Oclock this day In the most
frightful Convulsions. We Kept the body through the night. 5 In the Morning we Comitted
his body to the deep in the Most Solemn Manner. Never yet had Man died more deeply
lamented than did this Man by his Remaining friends.

The death of these two Men was the Sole Means under God, Of Our final deliverance,
for by Means Of the Small Pittance usually Meted Out for their Share, Enabled us to Exist
untill relieved.

February 10 1 * 1 . At about 3 OclocK this afternoon we had a fine breeze Spring up from
the Northwest and we again Made Very good Progress for Several days.

Feb 15 1 * 1 . This day we are About three hundred Miles from the Island Massafuero.
We have taKen Out Our last Morsel Of food, which Consists Of Only two Cakes Of Com¬
mon Ship bread to Each One and as there are three Of us we have each Rec°* an equal
share.

♦Thomas Nickerson and his companions subsisted more than a week on Isaac Cole’s heart and flesh, which they
had removed from his bones before the burial and preserved by drying and roasting. Owen Chase, Narrative
of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipunreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, of Nantucket (New York: W. B. Gilley,
1821), pp. 118-19. Also: Edouard A. Stackpole, The Sea-Hunters: The New England Whalemen during Two Centuries,
1635-1835 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1953), Ch. XXIII, pp. 317-337; Thomas Farel Heffernan, Stove
by a Whale: Owen Chase and the Essex (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1981), Ch. Ill, pp. 77-118
and 152-53.

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Chapter Ten

“The Joyful Sight of a Sail—We Were Taken
On Board the Brig Indian of London.

Death seems truly to be hovering Over us, and staring broadly into our faces. Upon
a Consultation, we agreed that, let whatever would come, we could never draw lots (after
our food had quite gone), for Each Other’s Death, but leave all with God. We consented,
however, at this time in case One should die first the Others could, if they thought it prop¬
er, Subsist upon Our Remains, with the hope that Some One Might carry the news to Our
Friends. But God designed it should be otherwise, and saved us from the very jaws of
Death.

Matters were now Speedily drawing to a Close and Our very Existance depended
wholly upon the Continuation of the breeze.

February 17 tE . This afternoon a heavy Cloud Settled upon the horizon to the East¬
ward which we Receive as Strong Indications of Land. This greatly Releived Our drooping
Spirits, and the darK features of Our distress Semmed to diminish.—

We Continued to Sail along on Our Course through the Night More Cheerfully than
we had done for Many days previous. And the Morning brought with It a blessing for
which We had Scarcly dared to hope.

At Seven Oclock we had the joyful Sight of a Sail! She was Steering along In the Same
direction with Ourselves. And although we were Several Miles astern of her we Soon as¬
certain’d that we Sailed faster than She and was drawing rapidly up to her. The Officer
Of the deck Soon descried us, and made Report to the Captain, Who Order Sail Shor-
tend Immediately and let us Come up with them.

The Captain hailed us on Our approach to Know Who we were, and from whence
we Came. On Our proper answers being given, he requested us to Come alongside the
brig, which we did. He Seemed deeply affected with the Spectacle Now before him, and
actually Shed tears On Viewing Our Emaciated Bodies.—

We were taken Onboard his Vessel and Every possible Kindness Shown to us. We were
taKen from the boats In the Lattitude Of 33:45 South and Long”. 81.-03 West.

This Brig was Call d the Indian of London Commanded by W m Crosier, Esqr who was
a native of Cumberland In England, a Gentleman who would do honour to Any Nation.
He tooK our boat In Tow of his Vessel, with the hope to Sell her at Valparaiso toward
Our Relief, but as a gale Came On during the Succeeding night the Rope broke and we
lost her.

In four hours after Our delivery we Saw the Island of Massafuero to the Eastward
and passing to the South of it. And On the following day Made the Island Juan Fernandez,
upon which we Sent a boat and Obtaind a quantity Of fine fruit which Consisted In Ap¬
ples, Peaches and green Figs.

February 25 th . We arrive Safelv this day at Valparaiso. On the following Morning Re¬
ceived a Visit from the Governor E)on Luiz Del Cruz, who wished to MaKe Some little
Enquiry Into the history of Our Shipwreck. For there was a Whispering abroad that foul
play had been used by us. Nor was this Entirely put down untill the Ship arrived a few
days after bringing In port Our Captain and his Companion, rescued by the ship Dauphin,
on Feb. 23, five days after our rescue.

The Governor however So far believed our Story that he permitted us to go at large,
and Kindly Offerd us his assistance In Case of need. We found laying In this Port Our
Own Country Ship the U.S. Frigate Constellation. C. G. Ridgley Es< l- Commander, who Ex¬
tended to us Every Kindness, Offering to us In person the Freedom of his Ship.

Hill, Acting U S Consul at this Port, was also Very Kind In providing Every neces¬
sary Means for Our board, and Comfort during our Stay at this place. Indeed all Residents
Americans^ and English Seemed determined to the utmost to Relieve Our wants. They

Open a Subscription Wherby more than five hundred dollars were Collected and Dre-
sented to us. v

During Our Stay the U S Ship Macedonian arrived, Capt Downs, who Kindly offered

to us a free passage to America as he was bound directly home having been relieved bv
the Constellation. 7

The Ship Eagle Of NantucKet having arrived from a Whaling Cruize, and being
bound to Our Own town, we Accepted the Kind Offer of W m Coffin, Esqr, her Captain
and tooK passage In that Ship. The Captain Of the Essex Still Remained behind and Re¬
turned home In the Ship Two Brothers. The Eagle after a pleasant passage of 78 days
brought us Safely home to the bosom Of Our friends and Families—

Captain Pollard thus Relates his narrative after Our Separation_

He Says after finding past all doubt that they had lost us, the two boats Kept away
on his Course Making all possible progress toward the Island Juan Fernandez as was ag¬
reed upon. But Contrary Winds prevail and the Extreme debility of the Crew gave him
great Concern. He was, as Ourselves, Much Concern d at the Seperation but at first felt
every Confidence In Meeting with us again.— On the

January 14 l The whole StocK Of provisions of the boat. In Charge Of Mr Hen-
dricKs, in the second mate’s boat was Exhausted, and Captain Pollard was Compell d to
give him out^a Share from his Own Scanty locker.

K rfr u ™ 8 day 3 C ° ,OUrd Ma " named L ’ Thomas died > and his body Constituted
the tood OMns Surviving Companions for Several days.

/ an k 23 ' ^ ( < k OU . r , Man named Char,es Shorter Died, and his body was Shared In
the two boats for the like purpose.

January 27 l . This day an Other Colour d Man named Isaiah Sheppard Died Of Ex-
treme debility.

Th J n ny h 2 o? k^ 0 t r er Co,our<1 Man Named Saml ^ed Died Of the Same disease-
lasted* 1 ^ ° Unf ° rtUnate Men Consd tuted the Only food of the Survivors whilst It

.1 !k th ° Wing o thC darKness ° f the night and the want Of power to manage

Irnrh* | h ll W ° k C ^ Seperated ’ never a 8 ain to Meet. They were then in Lattitude 35:00
South and about the Longitude 100:00 West.

his thrlTT 7 * , lSt ' Having now Consumed their last morsel Of food, the Captain with
Awf , f U r mg C ° m P an,ons after a d ue Consultation, agreed to Cast Lots— The
S™ “P™ a >' oun f g Man named Owen Coffin, who was a relative to Captain Pol-
aw?ul 2,^ fortitude and Resignation Cheerfully accepted his fate a, this
nra 1 , f Cnt ', Captdln wished to Exchange Lots with him, but to this Coffin would
not 1 sten for one Moment. He placed himself In a firm position to receive his death and

FeTyS'w? 0 ' k y CharleS Ramsdel1 ’ who ^came his Executioner by fair Lot.*
by Zimri CoffiiT^" *** ReSCUed by the Shi P Dau P hin of NantucKet, Commanded

I hey were taken Onboard that Ship and all their necessities Cared for, when they

turnedTn^f 3 !" i!" Va ! paraiso as ^fore Stated, and from thence In due time Re¬

turned In Safety to their friends And to their Country —

♦See section titled “Aftermath” for other details on Owen Coffin’s death.

Upon Our arrival at Valparaiso the United States Consul had designed to despatch
the U S Frigate Constellation to the Rescue Of Our Companions which had been left upon
Elizabeth’s Island. But on finding the Ship Surrey , Captain Raine, of London, bound to
Sidney, New South Wales, he formed a Contract with that Captain for the Sum Of Eight
hundred dollars to Proceed to Ducies Island and rescue the three Men.

On their arrival at Ducies Island they Made Search for the men by firing Signal guns
and all Other Means In their Power, but No Men appear . When they gave over the
Search thinKing probably that the Men had Either all died or been taKen Off by Some
passign Ship, they bore up and Stood On their Course. But as the Cap* was poring Over
his Chart glanced his Eye upon the Small Island Of the Elizabeth , Situated In near the
Same Lattitude but a few more miles to the westward. He believed It possible that Men
In Our Situation May have been MistaKen In the position and got the Islands Somewhat
Confounded, and Mistaken the One Island for the Other.

Thither he bent his way, and On his arrival found the men which we had left there.
They found the Sea breaking Violently against Its Shore. And although they Made Several
attempts to land with their boats, they were dashed frequently against the Rocks and the
boats were much Injured. They were On the point Of giving up altogather when they
Called to the men on Shore to Swim off to them. They were quite feeble and for a long
time none dared to make the attempt.

At last, having become almost desperate with the thought Of being left again upon
that desolate Spot, at this moment Thomas Chappel dashed himself Into the Sea and Suc¬
ceeded In Safely Reaching the boat. Where having Rested awhile took the End Of a line
to Shore whence all his Companions were Soon hauled Into the Boat. They were taken
onboard the Surrey and Kindly treated and gladly left this Solitary Spot perhaps forEver.

I have Since Conversed with Mr Weeks, One Of the Survivors. He Stated to me that
after our having left the Island their Sufferings became Extreme. The Birds having been
Constantly harrassd Soon forsooK the Island. The Land Crabs were Killed off. The Fish
Could rarely be Caught. Worse than all, Strange as It may appear, the little Submerged
fresh Water Spring was never afterwards left dry So as to be Come at. And they had only
the means left them to Catch water In the holos Of the Rocks, during Showers, which
would Soon dry up, and they were then left without water until the Next Rain Came on.

They found a Cave On the Eastern part Of the Island during their perambulations.
They were led by Curiosity to Enter It. When to their Surprise they found Seated, Side
by Side, Eight human SKeletons. Probably Some Illfated Mariners who had Sought a place
Of Safety like Ourselves and proved less fortunate.

They had formed a design to again Visit this Cave with a hope to gain Some farther
Intelligence Into their fate by finding Some marK Either On the hills Or Sea Shore, when
the plan was defeated by the arrival Of the Surrey.

They were taKen to Port JacKson, Australia, from whence Wright and Weeks took
passage for England, and eventually arrived Safely to their homes In the United States.
The boat Stearer, Thos Chappel, thus returned to his home and friends in England.

The Following Is a List Of the whole Crew as they were Arranged In the three Boats
On leaving the Wreck.

1 st Boat

Cap* George Pollard

^ r Obed HendricKs Boat Stearer

Barzillai Ray

Owen Coffin

Samuel Reed (Col ( )

Survived

Missing

Died

Shot

Died

Charles Ramsdell

Seth Weeks (left on the Island)

2 n d (O r Mates Boat)

Owen Chase Chief Mate
Benjamin Lawrence Boat Stearer
Thomas C NicKerson Boy
Isaac Cole

Richard Peterson (Col^)

# W ln Wright (left on the Island)

2 nd Mate

Boat Stearer

Mathew P Joy
X Thomas Chappel
Joseph West
Lawson Thomas (Col^)

Charles Shorter do
Isaih Shepperd do
William Bond (do Steward)

3 d or—2 nd Mates Boat

X r .m >S Chappel has Since died at the Island Timor
# W Wright Since lost in a Hurricane at the W. India Islands.

Survived

Died

Survived

Died

Survived

Missing

Died

thrilling

I ,

Whaling Voyage .Journal*,

CONTAINING 220 STANZAS,

IN POETRY, '

* %

• --

composed nr t:ii: -n. m\tk

ON BOARD SHIP DAUPHIN,

OP NANTUCKET.

PRICE 25 CENTS '

PUBLISHED BY THE ATLANTIC PUBLISHING COMPANY
mattapoisktt, mass. '

1877.

_ _ .

AFTERMATH

Edouard A. Stackpole

The first news of the loss of the Essex, and the probable fate of most of her crew,
reached Nantucket by way of Cape Horn. The whaleship Diana, of New York, under the
command of Captain Aaron Paddack of Nantucket, had met the ship Dauphin, of Nantuc¬
ket, Captain Zimri Coffin, off the island of St. Mary’s just off the coast of Chile, in the
South Pacific, on the very day that the Dauphin had picked up Captain George Pollard and
Charles Ramsdell in their whaleboat. A few weeks later, the Diana met the whaleship Tri¬
ton, Captain Zephaniah Wood, of New Bedford, and Captain Paddack passed along the
information of the rescue of Pollard and Ramsdell. Paddack also placed in Captain Wood’s
hand some letters for home, among which was his own account of his meeting with the
Dauphin on March 23, 1821.

After rounding C.ape Horn, the Triton on her homeward course sailed through the
North Atlantic, meeting the schooner Harmony, Captain Ray, bound home to Nantucket,
having been down to the South Shetlands on a successful voyage for seal pelts. Captain
Wood gave Captain Ray the story of the Essex, and the account was reported in the Boston
Independence Chronicle on June 13, 1821, as follows:

Nantucket, June 6, 1821—Yesterday arrived at this port, schr. Harmony,

Ray, from the New South Shetlands with 5,000 fur seal skins. Spoke May
21, in latitude 18 degrees 10 minutes North and Long. 34 degrees 15"

West, the ship Triton, Capt. Wood, full of oil, from whom he obtained the
following particulars of the loss of the ship Essex, of Nantucket, Geo. Pol¬
lard, Jr., master: “Nov. 20, 1820—Lat. 00 degrees 40" S., Long. 120 de¬
grees W., saw whales and put off with two boats. Soon after, a large whale
struck the ship with his head on the fore chains and stove a hole, but not
so high that they had hopes of saving her, but the whale turned and again
struck the ship on the larboard bow, at which the ship filled. They cut away
her masts and she righted. The crew continued on the wreck for four days,
and then took as much water and provisions as prudent, and then stood
to the southward.”

In a later report, appearing in the New Bedford Mercury , on June 15, 1821, when the
Triton arrived in New Bedford, it was stated that the ship Dauphin, of Nantucket, has fallen
in with the boat in which Captain Pollard and Charles Ramsdell had survived and the two
men ad been rescued. Also, that the ship Diana had spoken to the Dauphin on this same
day. On board the Dauphin, a young Third Mate, Charles Murphey, of Nantucket, was to
give his own account of the incident, writing the story of the Dauphin’s voyage entirely in

reU Many ,atCr thC Sea ' rhymes were P rinted in a booklet, and Murphey’s statement

The second month, quite early on
The three-and-twentieth day,

From our mast-head we did espy
A boat to leeward lay.

Hard up the helm, and down we went
To see who it might be.

The Essex boat we found it was.

Been ninety days at sea.

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No victuals were there in the boat,
Of any sort or kind,

And two survivors, who did expect
A watery grave to find.

The rest belonging to the boat
Ah! shocking to relate,

For want of food and nourishment,
Met an unhappy fate.

We rounded to, and hove aback;

A boat was quickly lowered;

We took the two survivors out,

And carried them on board.

Captain Aaron Paddack’s letter to his family in Nantucket, remains as the first account
received of the disaster. On the same day that the Diana hove to “gam” with the Dauphin,
Paddack wrote his account as follows: r

Off St. Maria, Pacific Ocean. 23 February, 1821. At 5 P.M. spoke and
warded the ship Dauphin, Capt. Zimri Coffin, on board of this ship I
heard the most distressing narrative that ever came to my knowledge.

Cap. Coffin had that morning taken up a whaleboat in which was
Capt. George Pollard, Jr., and Charles Ramsdell, who are believed to be
the only survivors of the crew of the ship Essex, with the exception of those
on Ducie’s Island. That ship on the 20th of November (1820) was in
Latitude 41 miles South 8c Longitude 120 degrees West of Greenwich, and
while two boats were at a distance from the vessel at work on whales, the
ship was attacked in a most deliberate manner by a large spermaceti whale
which made two such violent onsets with his head that the whole bow was
stove in, and the ship sank to the water’s edge immediately. With great ex-

*™°" s ’ a L nd b / SCUttling the deck in man y places, they were enabled to get
b )0 lbs. bread and a few Tools, nails and other small articles together with
as much water as could be taken in the boats, and after laying by the wreck
(in their three boats) two days, without being able to procure anything
more, they left her and proceeded southward.

four days after leaving the ship two of the boats were near failing by
reason of their having been heavily loaded. They were however
strengthened by nails, etc., that had been saved 8c they continued to make
what progress they could to the southward. On the 28th the Captain’s boat
was attacked by an unknown fish which stove two streaks and split the
stern, but was at last beat off by the sprit pole. On the 20th of December
they accidentally fell in with Ducies Island.

On this Island the whole ship’s company landed, hauled the boats onto
the beach and renailed them, and remained six days. The water they ob¬
tained at this Island was very brackish and was found to spring up through
a rock at near low water mark. A few fowl and fish was the only sustenance
t at could be got and not sufficient to subsist a fourth part of their
number. Three of their number chose to remain on the Island, and the
others (seventeen) again took to the boats with the hope of being able to
reach Easter Island, but by adverse winds and being too much exhausted
to make exertions they were drove far South of it.

The letter went on to record the death of Second Mate Matthew P. Joy on January
10, 1821, and his burial at sea. Two days later, it was stated the First Mate Chase’s boat
was separated from the others in the night in Latitude 31 degrees 0" (South) and Lon¬
gitude about 117 degrees 00". The 14th the provisions of the second officer’s boat was en¬
tirely expended.”

Captain Paddack’s letter was reporting the first accounts of what had taken place in
Captain Pollard’s boat, as well as in the second mate’s boat, and the terrible choice which
the survivors had to make when, on Jan. 20, one of the crew, a black man, died and be¬
came food for the remainder. Two days later, another black crewman died, Lawson
Thomas, and was disposed of in the same way.” It further stated: “The provisions being
all gone in the Capt’s Boat, they were glad to partake of the wretched fare with the other
crew.”

The grim story of Captain Pollard’s boat was revealed in Captain Paddack’s words:

In the night following (Jan. 29) the third boat was separated from the
other, then in Lat. 35 degrees 08 and Long, about 100 degrees. On the
6th of February, having entirely consumed the last morsel of sustenance,
the Captain and the three others that remained with him were reduced to
the deplorable necessity of casting lots to see who should be sacrificed to
prolong the existence of the others. The lot fell to Owen Coffin, who with

composure and resignation submitted to his fate_Feb. 10th, Barzillai

Ray died being entirely exhausted; by his death the Capt. and Ramsdell
were kept alive, ’till taken up as before stated.

Many years later, in fact nearly a century after such news was received, one young
woman deeply interested in the story, asked one of the daughters of Benjamin Lawrence,
a survivor in Mate Chase s boat, for some details concerning his experience, and the reply
was given in a gentle reproof: “Miss Molly, we do not mention this in Nantucket.”

Captain Pollard’s Continued Misfortune
—The Loss of His Second Ship

After his arrival home on board the whaleship Two Brothers , in August, 1821, Captain
George Pollard must have felt completely exonerated from any possible blame for the dis¬
aster to his ship and crew, as the owners of the ship which brought him home decided
to offer its command to him. Thus, barely two months after his return, Captain Pollard
sailed in the Two Brothers on a voyage to the Pacific.

But the circumstances of a tragic fate still clung to him. While on a cruise in waters
north of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, in February, 1823, the ship struck an uncharted
reef and became a total loss. However, the crew in open boats and Captain Pollard were
rescued only a few days later by the Nantucket whaleship Martha , Captain Pease. At Hon¬
olulu, where they were taken, Captain Pollard took passage for Boston on the brig Pearl.
While homeward bound he told his tragic story of the Essex to two English missionaries,
Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, who recorded it and afterwards published the account in
their book titled Journal of Voyages and Travels. It included the details of the sacrifice of
young Owen Chase, as well as Chaptain Pollard’s tragic statement:

. .. And now I am utterly ruined. No owner will ever trust me with a
whaler again, for all will say I am an unlucky man.

His prophecy was all too true. After some months of inactivity back in Nantucket, Cap¬
tain Pollard was appointed to the night watchman patrol. He never again went to sea, liv-

lary

t>oat

,on-

en-

e in
lich
be-
son
?ing
her

ds:

ing

ice,

ply

lain

dis-

Jed

ard

:ers

ted

ere

on-

arl.

ies,

ap-

liv-

ing a quiet, unobtrusive life thereafter. On Feb. 1, 1870, he died at the age of 81. In the
Nantucket newspaper’s obituary, his old friend, William H. Macy, wrote:

He was still a young man when he retired from the sea and closed the
strange and eventful part of his career. For more than forty years he has
resided permanently among us, and now leaves a record of a good and
worthy man as his legacy to us who remain.

In Herman Melville’s personal copy of Owen Chase’s Narrative the author of Moby-Dick
wrote:

I . . . saw Captain Pollard on the Island of Nantucket, and exchanged some
words with him. To the Islanders he was a nobody—to me the most im¬
pressive man, tho’ wholly unassuming, even humble—that I ever encoun¬
tered.

And in his poem Clarel y Melville paid this tribute:

A Jonah is he?—And men bruit
The story. None will give him place
In the third venture. Came the day
Dire need constrained the man to pace
A night patrolman on the quay
Watching the bales till morning hour
Through fair and foul. Never he smiled;

Call him, and he would come; not sour
In spirit, but meek and reconciled;

Patient he was, he none withstood:

Oft on some secret thing he would brood.

Owen Chase’s Distinguished Career As a
Whaling Shipmaster

Quite in contrast to Captain Pollard’s aborted career, Owen Chase, his first mate, be¬
came a succesful shipmaster. He continued in the berth of mate until 1832, when he was
given command of the new whaleship Charles Carroll , built for him on Brant Point, Nan¬
tucket. Sailing in October, 1832, he returned with splendid cargo of 2,610 barrels of sperm
oil, in March of 1836. Sailing again in the same ship this year he arrived home in 1840
with 2,678 bbls. After a few more merchant ship voyages he retired from the sea and lived
a good many years quietly in his Orange Street home, where he died on March 7, 1869,
at the age of 73. During the last years of his life, however, his reason became impaired—
aftermath of that long open-boat voyage in the Essex boat.

His grandson, Captain Walter Chase, became a hero in his own right when, as Keeper
of the Coskata Life Saving Station, he made the rescue of a shipwrecked crew some 15
miles at sea in a winter storm. This grandson once stated:

After Grandfather grew old, and his mind failed, he was constantly storing
away things . . . Going to stores and ordering many groceries, he would
store them in the cellar against an imagined need ... his mind was revert¬
ing to the days in the boat when they were so terribly in need of food.

Owen Chase’s Narrative has recently been the subject of an exhaustive study titled
“Stove By A Whale,” written by Thomas Farel Heffernan and published by the Wesleyan
University Press, and the book has received deserved acclaim in academic circles.

Among the many dramatic passages in Mate Chase’s story is one concerned with an
episode just before the rescue, especially in regard to Thomas Nickerson, the youngest
member of the crew, one of the three survivors in the Mate’s boat.

The next morning, before daylight, Thomas Nicholson, a boy about seven¬
teen years of age, one of my two companions who had thus far survived
with me, after having bailed the boat, laid down, drew a piece of canvas
over him, and cried out that he then wished to die immediately. I saw that
he had given up, and I attempted to speak a few words of comfort and
encouragement to him,....

When the startling cry, “There’s a sail!” aroused the three survivors in the battered
whaleboat, they could only stare at what was to them an apparition. Chase stated:

My earliest recollections are that I immediately stood up, gazing in a state
of abstract and ecstasy upon the blessed vision ... The boy, took a sudden

and animated start... and stood up to witness the probable instrument of
our salvation.”

When the rescue vessel drew up alongside, Owen Chase presents

uic scene:

I made an effort to assist myself along to the side ... but my strength
ailed me altogether... We must have formed at that moment, in the eyes
of the Captain and the crew, a most deplorable and affecting pic-
ture . Our cadaverous countenances, sunken eyes, and bones just starting
through the skin, with the ragged remnants of clothes stuck about our sun-
burned bodies.

w atp As n an ex , a [" ple ° f the navigational competence of both Captain George Pollard and

!ho IH°i!l en Ch f Se , the .P° s,t,ons of their respective whaleboats when they were sighted

Sr m' ’ n ° te i aptain P °Hard s boat was sighted within a few miles off the island of

by thc^riJ 1 //!/// C ^° aSt °, When Mate Chase and his two companions were rescued

in a rezion wh ^'l W . ha,eboat , was less than f,ft y miles from Massafueor Island, and
m a region where whaleships regularly cruised.

The Boston Daily Advertiser on June 16, 1821, printed the following news item
Extract of a letter:
latest, Nantucket, June 12, 1821:

Yesterday, ships Hysco, Coffin, and Eagle, Coffin, arrived from the
acific Ocean with sperm oil. In the latter came Owen Chase, mate, Ben-
jamin Lawrence, Thomas Nickerson, and Charles Ramsdell, seamen, late
o the Essex, of this port... Capt. Pollard was left ill at Valparaiso, not
having recovered from his severe sufferings.

Appendices

Appendix A

(From The Narrative of Thomas Nickerson)

Whaleship Hero of Nantucket Attacked by Spanish Pirates
In the Bay of Santa Maria, March 18, 1820

It was at this Port that the Ships Hero of Nantucket and Perseverance Of London were
taken. The whole Crew of the Perseverance were Murdered, except two who Subsequently
made their Escape to Talcahuano, after Suffering Incredible hardships for want of food.

The Crew Of the Ship Hero were more fortunate. The Circumstance Of her Capture
were these. This Ship had been Rather Unfortunate in Obtaining a Cargo Of Spermaciti
Oil and Called at this Bay with the hope of getting A few Right Whales to Complete her
Cargo. They had been there a day Or two and had Caught One whale and were boiling
when the Capture took place by the Pirates. Captain James Russelfl] who Commanded the
Hero Said to his Mate that as they had no Vegetables onboard he would take One Boat
and Crew to the town and Obtain a Sufficiency for their present use. During the time he
had been laying at Anchor there, they had held no Communication with the I own as they
were Come Considerable distance from it, laying on the Maria Side of the Bay. There¬
fore they had no Knowledge Of the Piratical Intention Of the then Governor of Auroco,
Gen 1 Benevido. They landed with the utmost Confidence. They had no Sooner Landed
than they were Seized by those Lawless wretches and Conveyed to Prison.

The boat of [t]he Hero was then man’ d Out with their Own Crew Of Robbers and Sent
to taKe possession of the Ship. They Came near the Ship at Ten Oclock at Night. When
they Stop 1 * Rowing, the Ships Crew Knowing It to be their Own boat hailed them The
answer was made by fireing a whole Volley Of MusKetry Onboard the Ship. The Crew
having no means Of Defence Ran off below DecK to Escape their Shot. The Pirates find¬
ing No Opposition boarded the Ship and tied the Crew. They tied the Mate and locked
him In the Captains State Room. At daylight they loosed them and Caused them to Run
the Ship nearer In towards the town and began to taKe Out her Cargo and take It On
Shore.

They Compell d the Crew to WorK On the Cargo by Day and tied them Each Night.
The Captain had a Lad with him In the boat, and thinKing to Save him Told them It
was his Own Son. They however Kept them both Confined togather. And probably both
were Murder‘d togather as there has been no account Of the Boy.

On the Second day after they had began to discharge the Cargo there was a brig Seen
to Enter the harbour and Stand directly Over toward the Ship. On her nearer Approach
the Spaniards MistooK her for a Man of War. They tied the Ships Crew and drove them
below. The Mate was not tied but locKed up In the StateRoom. They next Slip d the Ships
Cable with the hope that She would drive upon the Rocks. They then left the Ship. They
were Compell d to MaKe all possible despatch as the Brig by this time had got well Into
the Bay.

Mean time the mate finding all quiet upon Deck burst Open his Door and hastened
to unloose the Men that were Confined. They Cut adrift the Sails that were furled. And
In less time than I have been relating It, all Sails were Set upon the Ship and her head
turned Once More to Seaward. The Brig proved to be a Merchant Vessel and On Seeing
the Ship Set Sails So hastily Supposed her to be Some Pirate and tacked Again Standing
Out to Sea with all possible Despatch.

After this manouvre the Pirates were Satisfied that She was no vessel Of War and

again Started In persuit Of the Hero. It So happened that the Ship was Compel^ to haul
nearly head towards the boats in persuit to Clear A point Of RocKs which She had to pass.
And ere She was Clear Of It the boats were nearly within Musket Shot Of the Ship. At
this tme Many of the Crew Came Aft desiring the Mate to heave too for the boats. “For,”
Said they, we are Sure to be taken by them. And If we Stop they may Spare Our lives ”
The Reply Of this Noble fellow was, “Well, My Lads, If any wish to Remain and Enjoy
their Clemency, they Must take a plank and iump Overboard. They will Soon meet them
For My Own part the Ship Cant be Stop[p]e a . If they Shoot me, they must do it flying ”
[Pencil marginal note in Thomas Nickerson’s handwriting: “The Chief Mate that Saved the
Hero Was Since Capt Obed Starbuc K who Still Survives 1876”]

A Moment More and they had passed the Rocks when the Ship Steered away before
the wind Having a fine Strong breeze from the South they were Soon Out Of the harbour
and Safely at Sea. But the Ill fated Captain with his Boy and Some Of his Crew were In

to ^ uffer Death b y their Ruffian hands. As soon as the Ship was found to have
ade her Escape, the Governor gave Orders for the Captain to be Shot Immidiately with
part of his Comrades from Prison. The Hero arrived Safely at Valparaiso After a passage
Ot but few days. I was at that Port on her Arrival and Recieved my Information Of the
Circumstanses as they had previously Occurr d from the Survivors.

The Authorities Of Chili Very Soon despatched a force to put down the band Of Pi¬
rates at Auroco and Very Soon Succeeded In dispersing Or Capturing them. The Gov-

TnnT T! de . h ^ r E .^ pe In a " 0pen Canoe alon 8 the Coast to ‘he Northward and landed
tie South Of Valparaiso. Then being destitute of provisions and wishing to go farther

North, he asked alms of a Muleteer who was hunting Cattle. This fellow having Seen him
n his better days and Remembering his Countenance, having heard Of the Reward upon
head mm.d.ately threw his Lassau Over his head as he would have done a bullock. [He]
Started h.s mule at full Run, un[t]ilJ he had So far worn down His Excellency as to be
a e-Easily to tie him and bring him to Town handing him Over to justice and Reaping
h,s Own Reward H,s head was Struck off and his body quarter’d and distributed In four
f the principal Cities Of Chili and hung In gibbets. Several years after the Event Spoken
Of I Saw his head and One Arm at the City Of Conception.

Appendix B

(From The Narrative of Thomas Nickerson)

Tracking Deserters at the Guayaquil, 1835

I was laying at this port In 1835 In a Ship Call 0 * the Samuel Wright Of Salem ^ ass *
taking Onboard a Supply of wood and water. And [I] had very nearly finished without
accident, when On Mustering our hands one morning found that Our third Mate togather
with Six of our best hands had Stolen away One of Our boats during the night and
absconded. We Immidiately Saw the necessity of making Some attempt to waylay and If
possible to Catch them. So after having been OnShore to the Command 1 Of the Port and
Obtained a warrant to arrest them In Case Of finding them at Some Other part Of the
Coast.

We Set Ourselves buisily at Work fitting up one of our Remaining boats for a long
Cruise. And after having fitted a Schooner Rig and taken Onboard a weeks provision with
plenty Of Ballast and Selected One boatstearer. ^* r Zephaniah Wood and two trustworthy
Seamen, I took Charge Of the boat and Started for the Guayaquil River In persuit, think¬
ing In all probability they would Make this their land fall. The Mouth Of this River is
about 70 miles to the north Of Our Ship anchorage.

Thus Equip 0 * I Started Of[f| with a fair wind and very pleasant weather. But we had-
not proceeded more than twenty miles when the Sky became Suddenly overcast with Every
appearance of an awful Storm. The rain fell In torrents throughout the night. And as we
had no Covering to Our boat we were Soon wet through to the Skin. The Rain Continued
to fall with unabated fury untill the next morning and the thunder and lightning the Most
Awful and Vivid that I have Ever witness 0 *, which also kept up during the night. The gusts
of wind were Very hard and the night very dark, but our little whaleboat glided away like
a thing Of life. We Continued On Our Course under Easey Sail

When at daylight the Storm Clear 0 * away Showing to us the Island Puna, and that our
position was very fair. For we had only to haul too and Sail directly Into the harbour. But
Certainly a more disagreeable Night than the past Cannot Easily be described. And I pre¬
sume Should this Meet the Eye Of any Of My Shipmates of that dreadful night they will
Shrug their Shoulders and heave a passing thought upon that Our first night.

The Island Puna Is at the Mouth Of the Guayaquil River. It has a Small town Con¬
taining about four Hundred Inhabitants. At this town I landed and deliver 0 * my message
to the Com r Of the town. He Recieved me very kindly and Offerd me Every facility In
his power to Recover the lost Men. He then despatched Soldiers In all directions In Search
but to no purpose. For the men as we afterwards learned pass 0 the Island during the
Storm by mistake as they had Intended to land there. And [by] that means they Escaped.
But they Suffer 0 * Every hardship; Some of their Number Even death Itself.

We found at this Island two families Residing upon a beautiful Site to appearance but
very Sickly being Constantly Visited with the bilious fever. Those Families Were One An
American Mr John Swett Of Boston and Mr Cope, British Consul. They had Sought an
assylum at this place to Escape the tumult Of War then waging at this Province. General
Flores at this time held possesion Of the City Of Guayaquil and General Wright had the
Island Puna as his Resort for his floatilla. He was In the Service Of Gen 1 Rocheforte and
Completely held the forces by Sea, Of Flores at bay. His flotilla Consisted Of About twelve
Scho[o]ners with Some Crafts Of a Smaller Size with which he used to annoy the Enemy
very much. He Is an Irishman by berth and a truly brave and humane general.

There was a Rumour at this town of the General’s having Caught a Musket ball In
the hollow Of his hand during his last Engagement. He related the Circumstance to Me
as It Occur 0 *.

,, n rh ‘ S batt [ e ’ Sa ' d he ’ “ whlch b y the wa y was a pretty Severe One, was fought onboard
the flotilla with an Overwhelming number of Flores’s troops. The Contest had been long

and trying. Many, Very many Of Our Number had fallen. And Our Men Seem d to droop
and appeal d dishearten* 1 .” F

When the Gen', On moving from his position. Observed a Spent bullet which had
pass through the bulwark and lodged upon the Rail. He Caught It up in a moment and
a thought Struck him to take advantage Of their Superstition and turn the Circumstance
to his Own Advantage. He therefore, holding It In the hollow of his hand and Starting
high upon the Rail, Cried Out to his Men: “Look now! Look at this! I have Caught One
of their bullets In my hand and Stop d It.” °

“Now,” Said he, We are Sure Of them, for their Powder Is good for nothing ”

wi l b . :: ga r v u h v em neW A Sp J r i ts; T d : after having Cheer Iusti, y’ the y Renewed ^ fight
h three fold Vigour. And he declared to me on his honour, he believed that alone to

have been the means Of giving to them the Victory which Soon after followed and of de-
ading the Contest So Soon.

tha.T here T 3 HUle Aff3 n Came ° ff dur ' ng my Stay At his Cam P which Convinced Me
oos ed' hU t ™ nC ( as Wd ' as brave - ° n a darK Night One of his Centinels, who was
posted Without the Camp, heard a Sudden Rustling Amongst the bushes. The Centinel
Challenged, but recievmg no answer to the third Call, fired and Shot the Intruder dead.

ntenfr memg A e f °rv nd ^ ^ 3 P°° r unfortuna te Cow who had been the In-
nocent Cause of her Own destruction.

.he Onlv a ^ptain. to .he General .ha. .he Cor Kill d was

nf„?ld ira rw a rT W,d n°n What a ^ Cow would Cos. On 60 "*

-wSmTk h C S “ ch as had ben Kil|d would Cost thirty dollars, his Replay was 8

£r=;- " “s? "Ai.'s sc

Contracted*at ih! .**!? 1 tW ° Men we had taken at Tumbez died with a fever

Consul with all d o er WC bu [ ,ed hlm at the !sland Puna on the premises Of the British
SjtoCS d r r PeC K t0 I he Dead ’ Mr - Cope havi "S the Kindness to Read the Fun
Philadelphia. ^ ^ Um ' THe n3me ° f the decease d was Samuel Day a native Of

Appendix C

Letter: Thomas Nickerson to Leon Lewis, 1876

Leon Lewis Esqr

Nantucket Oct r 27 1 * 1 /76

My Dear Friend Your Favour of the 23^ Came to hand last evening, The date is the very
date on which I wrote you last which I trust you have Red all right. It Contained The
Searching of the two Records 8c other matter which makes it important for you to have
got them. I will now try to answer your Inquiry. Your 1st is, are you aware that the missing
Boat, nor any other of our Boats, touched at, or ever saw Ducies Island. We all three Boats
Landed at Elizabeth Island Safely, with all hands Comparatively Well except M. P. Joy. He
was very weak and debilitated. This Ducies Island lies in the Same lattitude of Elizabeth
Island and about Seventy miles to the East. All which you will find plainly described in
My manuscript, to Confirm that it was not Ducies Island. (I can well Satisfy you on that
point). The Captain of the Ship, in Communicating with his Correspondent: He Says (as
directed): “I arrived off the island Ducie and finding no landing place I Fired guns nearly
all day, but finding no one upon the Shores to make an appearance I Came to the Con¬
clusion that Pollard was either mistaken or else that the men had either all died or had
been taken off, but on looking over his Chart he found that a Small Island lay to the west
distant 70 miles and thither we went.” This was the Island discovered by Capt King in the
Ship Elizabeth of London. They fired a gun on their arrival which brought them to view
as described fully in the manuscript.

As Regards Pollards Reef, or Shoal, I have just been talking with Captain Thomas
Derrick, who was Chief Mate of the Ship Martha, which was in Trouble with us at the
time, and which Ship Saved us and took us to the Sandwich Islands. He agrees with my
Opinion as regards the Reef. He as well as myself, believes that this was French Frigate
Shoal, notwithstanding our two Captains believed and Reported that this was a new dis¬
covery. The Lattitudes were very much the Sale. Owing to thick weather we had had no
Lunar Observation for ten or twelve days, hence the Mistake. Your 2 n( * is as Regards
Owen Coffin, of his Family I know but very little. His Mother I am told has been Dead
Many years, 8c I Know that he had a Brother Sailing Between New York 8c Curacoa in
the west Indies, In Command of the Brig Tam O Shanter, and died at that Island with Con¬
sumption Shortly after that. I have no farther knowledge of any of the Family.

Now as Regards the Casting of Lots: As I had my Information from Charles Ramsdell,
who was one of the two Survivors Of the Captains Boat, he said that when their last morsel
of food was gone and finding as they were, all must Die, and for the sake that their friends
Should Know their fate (I think if my memory Serves me) that he, Ramsdell, made the
first proposition to Cast Lots. Be that as it may. Captain Pollard would not listen to it, Say¬
ing to the others, no, but if I Die first you are welcome to Subsist on my remains, and
that Coffin joined in the entreaty to Cast Lots. They then Cut Some Blank paper Checks
put them in a hat. The Lot fell upon Coffin, which he distinctly declared to be a fair Lot
and that he wished to abide by it. Captain Pollard then declared that he would take the
Lot himself, but to this Coffin would not listen for a moment. This was a trying moment.
Truly the Son of a beloved Sister, to fall by their hands, who can doubt but that Pollard
would rather have met the reath a thousand times. None that Knew him, will ever Doubt.
Neither of his Companions but that Shrank from the heart rending tryal. So they were
Compelld again to Cast Lots that who Should draw the fatal Trigger. As if the fate would
have it, the awful die turned upon Captain Pollard. For a long time he declared that he
Could never do it, but finally had to Submit.

Coffin then Called to them to come near whilst he breathed a parting message to his
dear Mother 8c Family. Then Craving a few moments in Silence he told them that he Knew
t e lots had been fairly drawn and he Submitted to his fate perfectly Resigned. And we
know the rest, let us draw a vail over the untimely fate of a Shipmate we all Loved So
Dearly and So Well. Peace to his memory. Capt Pollard was not thought to have dealt un¬
fairly with this trying matter. On his arrival he bore the awful message to the mother as
her Son desired but She became almost frantic with the thought, and I have heared that
She never Could become reconciled to the Capt’s presence. Captain Pollard has Since lived

0,1 U e i a , n ^’, great,y Res P ectec * by all whose buisnes or pleasure brought them in Contact
with and died Lamented by a large Circle of Friends.

You will find on Refering to my manuscript that all the men that got to the Island
with us left it with us, with the exception of Thomas Chappel, Wm Wright and Seth
Weeks, Those three men Chose to Remain and were Subsequently taken off by the Surrly

Canf .n"p ! a '°:.f“;r er Seperated until long after we had left Elisabeths Island.
Captain Pollards Wife Still Lives but has become totally Blind

You wish to Know Something about my own History. I Believe that I was born in the
Town of Harwich In Massachusetts, at least they tell me So. At the age of Six months my

r "fa" L Tw l ° thC IS,and ° f Nantucket ’ Into a bouse in North Water S l . At the Age
< ' 8 , M( ! nt | hs U y Parents P ,ed and was buried from that house, and Their Head Stones
P alnyle 8 lble > after a la P se °f 70 years, In the western part of the Gardners burying
l ^ g l n my Carreer as above and a ?er a few years in the Schools of this Island

in he III f 1 hT y f T g Tu ather Cap Robert Gibs ° n - 1 Commenced my Sea Life

ft th 1 Ji d ESSgX ’ i° OWed by the voya S e und er the Same Commander in the Two

Brothers , belonging to Samuel Mitchel Esqr and Others Of this Town. _ Afterword

as mate of Several vessels in the Whaling Service; that is, after I had gone through My

Me g rch eS V Subord,nate Ca P acity ‘ And In 1834-5 as Chief Mate of Several Ships in the

Chants S..ch rV,C r the " c maStC J °f many different Shi P s ^ the Employ of various mer-
chan^ Such as George Sutton Sen r , Moses H. Call, Foster & Giraud, Oliver B. Hilliard,

f n 0l '° m v’ S, " Ce I qU,t thC ^ 1 h3Ve ***" Living In Brooklyn, and doing buis-

th i i r/r I m the t h,pp,ng bu,sness - 1 Shal1 not have time to write you much more
this time but I would wish to refer you to my manuscript. I think you will find all the

questios you have asked to be answered in that, perhaps more Correctly than this; for hav-

m g s Pa H e< n my ? anUS ? npt 1 now have to write from memory only. I Shall not be able

lecfing^hem ^ ^ h3VC deS ‘ re<1 " eXt WCek as 1 have ^n a bttle bothered in Col-

I think 1 r VC e i ClOSe ', 1 3 h ' St0ry ° f 3 Very excitin g Coolie voyage which I made, and which
ink can be made interesting. You can make use of it as you think proper, either use

I hT ng Desultory Sketches or any where that you in your judgement may think fit.

^ wrirnt t0 3 ? and y ° U Can handle as you ‘bink Iroper. I think I will

not write to you again untill I hear from you again or Know if you are Coming

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Full text of "The Loss of the Ship "Essex" Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats"

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